Transcendency
by NovemberDoll
Summary: The angel fell into a lake of fire, and all her memories fled from her grasp. Lost in a strange dimension, what happens when she finds out the one who rescued her was just as trapped as she was? **AU** S/K
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** In my hurry to make my edit I ended up DELETING THE WHOLE STORY, instead of only making the edits to (Chap2)Eternally Bound. Those who followed the story I AM SO SORRY! I'm new to FF, I didn't mean to... :'( Please come back. Anyway, I made MAJOR OMISSIONS to the chapter. Basically, I simplified it the best I can, so you can have a clearer background on what Kags is. Honestly, **only on that chapter**. I made no major edits on the rest, will be putting a summary on each chapter in case somebody does not follow.

Lastly, to his their own. If you don't like, leave. If you do, I find a kindred spirit!

 **Disclaimer:** You know what I mean.

* * *

 ** _I Promise_**

* * *

"Tell me again,

how we first met."

He threaded his fingers through the silky strands of her hair. He had always marveled at the feel of it in his hands, was always mesmerized by the color of dark ebony against her pale skin, and the color of her eyes, one of the many things that made her unlike any other. A pang of regret immediately settled in the lining of his stomach, as her eyes that held the impossible blue of the sky illuminated the darkness that was slowly consuming his world.

He would drown in them, willingly.

"It was raining when I met you," she whispered, the arrows riddled on her blood-soaked back draining her strength. "And our first kiss tasted like tears."

She bent down and feathered her lips across his, where her hand had come to rest at the place where the blade of the sword had jutted on his chest, and he watched in reverence as her beautiful face marred itself with a desperate look. She inhaled sharply. "To see you like this...

it crushes me,

every time."

Was he too selfish to have wanted such an emotion from her?

His fingers caught the familiar amber-gold ribbon that was on laced on her hair, constantly, laced on her hair. "Were you always so affectionate?"

"Ie... it was you who taught me," very gently she rested her head against his. She allowed herself a little smile. "and you were quite... aggressive."

He frowned as a familiar pain came shooting in his consciousness, and she re positioned herself, her grip tightening in concern when he winced. His hand now traveled to her pale, dirtied cheeks. He watched her gaze flicking vermilion from the fire: the fire from the battle that had died down, leaving only silence that only the aftermath of war and death could have rendered. As he admired the colors playing on her poly chromatic eyes, he held his breath.

It had always amazed him, fascinated him.

 _She_ had fascinated him.

"In those ninety-seven lifetimes, I have never met you under the rain,

I have never kissed you for the first time while you were crying..." his voice was now as soft as a whisper, the pang of regret, and the knowledge of his own flickering life twisting his gut.

"And I have only done nothing but hurt you...

in those ninety-seven lifetimes."

She only smiled at him in answer, wistful, and his heart fluttered, for in all those lifetimes he had only but broke her yet she still looked at him the same way: with those longing, hungry eyes, burning through his soul, slowly melting every barrier he had created.

"All in His timing," she murmured. She probably noticed his breathing had slowed down, for the beating of her heart hammered faster in his ears. In a rush of adrenaline he clung to her, her familiar curves, the scent of her mixed with blood.

And then the pain seared through him.

But he did not mind,

He wanted her to know,

he _needed_ her to know:

"Promise me you will find me,

relentless, until I am in your arms again..."

he closed his eyes as he felt her nimble fingers wipe a stray tear from his cheek.

"no matter how stubborn I am, I beg you this time,

I want to spend eternity with you,"

His grip weakened and his vision wavered, but he refused to let her go, not until-

not until...

"Promise me," he pleaded, drowning on the blood that was filling his lungs. Familiar scent of salt invaded his senses, she was about to cry again, just like how he left her, ninety-seven lifetimes past. He would have reached up to wipe her tears away, but he had no strength left. "Kagome, promise me."

"I already did," she bit out, her voice trembling. "I promised... the first time we met,

I made a promise,

and that will never change."

She allowed her tears to fall as he took his last breath from this lifetime, and she watched as his beautiful face passed into a familiar calmness, giving up his soul to her. Cradling his spirit in her free hand, she let out a breath of exhaustion.

She was tired,

so very tired.

But the warmth of his beautiful spirit in her palms spread through her own soul, comforting her own weary strands of life.

"And I promise again, Koi, no matter how many more lifetimes it would take," she whispered,

"For you are worth it all."


	2. Eternally Bound

**A/N:** Shamayim- Hebrew for elevation, or the _High Heavens_

Insurgency- an act of revolt

Rift- a crack/split

* * *

 ** _Eternally Bound_**

* * *

"What does it feel like, Kouga?"

"Huh?" The raven-haired archangel answered dumbly. When he found her here, by the cherry tree on top of the cliff that overlooked Shamayim, he had shuffled his feet _loudly,_ in _purpose_ , to announce his arrival. He cleared his throat several times, had even shook the tree to garner her attention, which seemed to have been wandering as of late.

And now, the celestial had been too distracted thinking about _her_ distraction he failed to follow her question.

"What does it feel like, being in love."

The tall raven-head leaned forward, tilting sideways to catch a glance at her face. Was she serious? She held the same nonchalant smile. Which was good- she was most probably just asking to pass time.

"Why are you asking me that?" he frowned.

He did not know how to answer her. It was ridiculous, though. She was older than time, yet they protected her from _that_ topic as if she were born just yesterday.

She tilted her head thoughtfully towards him and their eyes met.

"It's not easy to explain, Okaa-chan." He gave in. "It's different for everyone."

"Ah, I see.." came the answer, and Kouga did a double take at the wistfulness in her tone. She held an expression he had never seen before, and before he could ask any further, she shifted.

"I will be leaving for a while, oversee the others while I am away."

A lurch in his stomach jumped to his throat.

"Is it something important?" he managed, trying to ease his rolling disquiet.

" Something about a dimensional rift.." She answered. "Exactly where, I don't know. So I can't give you an estimate of how long I will be gone."

His hands fisted the material of his hakama tightly in restraint. It was a relief that it was just a rift, and not a rebellion, but still... she would be away, again. Who knows how long it will take this time? Two days? A year? _Two decades_? His thoughts suddenly halted. "Why are you telling me this?" he sputtered. "You normally just leave without saying anything."

She gave him a frown and turned back towards the view. "You chastise me for doing so. And now I do as you please, still I get chastised." She sighed. "I've raised a bunch of ingrates."

His brow twitched in indignation. "It's your fault that you're such a bad correspondent. You disappear for years on end and we do not know if you're still even _alive._ At least give us _some_ indication that you are well. We worry about you!" He averted his eyes away from her, not caring if he really acted like the selfish brat she loved to tease him as.

"Ah, but the ferrets! I send you my little ferrets when I am aw-"

"I should have bound you to myself," he muttered, "Sango would have understood, fuck, she would have even bound you to _herself_ , if she knew you come and go as you please, you irresponsible-"

"I do not 'come and go as I-"

"Shippo, or Rin-dono, they would have been willing, even... even Inuyasha-sama-"

"Ah, now _that_ I would probably disagr-"

"Don't you dare change the topic, Kagome!" He winced at the taste of her unfamiliar name on his tongue. Yes, he dare drop his honorific. "You sleep constantly after your wanderings, basically leaving us to do all our work," he accused.

"Eh, Kouga, in case you forgot-"

"You're too nonchalant about everything," he ranted, "we can never get a strand of seriousness from you,"

"Ah, Kouga, just look at the cherry blossoms!"

"It doesn't matter to you if you leave anyone behind," he continued, no plans to stop.

"Kouga, look!"

"You take us for granted,"

" _ **Uriel,**_ "

His celestial name finally caught his attention. A soft breeze blew their way, and he raised his gaze towards her, and all time stopped.

She had turned to him. Palms held out to catch the rain of sakura blossoms so beautifully contrasting her ebony hair, an expression of child-like wonder was imprinted in her beautiful face, her girlish grin stealing his breath away.

 _This_ was why they were so obsessively selfish with her identity,

and possessive,

and ridiculously unreasonable with her.

"Beautiful," she sighed, holding up the soft petals she caught towards him, waiting eagerly for his recognition.

"Indeed," was all he could say, and he was rewarded with an even brighter smile that melted his very soul.

He stood behind her during the great rebellion,

He had witnessed her conquer impossible rifts, crush many other insurgencies, all using an iron fist in a velvet glove. Her impeccable leadership had led them to this point, a near-impenetrable fortress.

yet she stood in front of him now, like a little child, amazed at the flurry of soft petals around them.

Those hands that held the sword that drove the strongest archfiends away from the holiest grounds

were the same hands gently releasing the sakura blossoms to be carried away by the wind.

Who could blame them for being this way?

No one deserved to see _this_ side of her. But she trusted them anyway, and damn it all they would keep this side of her locked for only them to see. Their selfishness indeed knew no bounds.

He held her gaze fiercely.

"You are doing it again," she tilted her head sideways, "looking at me as if I will dissolve into thin air ."

His gaze never faltered. "If we aren't annoying enough, you probably will forget us."

She chuckled at that. "I will come back when it's over.

If something arises that needs my attention before then, I will come back when you call me. I am... eternally bound to the hierarchies, such as how I am eternally bound to this."

"I know. But I can't help these emotions." Kouga admitted. She peered at him thoughtfully.

"Kaa-san!" a new voice piped in, and she turned to smile at the newcomer, a much younger man, with red hair he kept up in a ponytail.

"Shippo, finally!" Kouga rolled his eyes. Lazily he tore himself from the girl and padded towards his twin. "What took you so long?"

"Eh," his celestial twin nodded his head in apology. "I had to stop by the tailor's shop for Rin's outfit for the festival."

The siblings engaged themselves in banter that they did not notice the curious look that replaced the nonchalant expression of the girl. She had caught a shimmer of light at the corner of her eye, and her gaze darted towards the overview.

It was then that she heard the familiar subtle whisper, building gradually in her ears, traveling into her very veins, filling her entire being.

As quickly as it came, it went by as abrupt. She blinked.

 _The rift._

She could see it clearly now, that curious fissure of light that was not supposed to be there. She slowly made her way toward the rift- the unnatural light it emitted was further evidence of the oddity of its origin.

Reaching out to the edge of the cliff, she stepped towards the dimensional rift, her feet leaving the safety of the ground. Instead of plummeting down the sudden drop, an explosion of white and feathers caught the attention of the bickering siblings.

The younger redhead pushed past his sibling, upset by the obvious lack of a certain ebony-haired individual who was standing there just minutes ago. "She left." he said dryly, picking up a white avian feather from her wake.

"Yeah, she told me." Kouga shrugged, picking up the package he settled earlier.

Shippo's jaw dropped. The look of heartbreak in his face riddled his older brother with guilt. "You would have probably known, too, if you returned earlier, idiot."

* * *

When she reached out for the rift, she had never expected something so small swallow her whole. She slipped inside, half expecting herself to gain footing, but the moment she was in, there was an abnormal pull to her normally reliable wings.

Darkness consuming her, she plunged into the unknown.

* * *

 **A/N:** If you follow what happened here, then you are amazing! *falls into a dogeza*. Please skip this part, you don't need to read this. I will be spelling out the chapter to those who don't. This simply gives a background on what Kagome is on this **AU story.** Then She tells Kouga she will be leaving to investigate a dimensional rift. Not soon after, she literally falls into one. Onward!


	3. It Was Raining When I Met You

_**A/N:** _

Elioud- A human clan whose noble blood carry a cursed Blood of Ill Will

* * *

 ** _It Was Raining When I Met You_**

* * *

Pain, searing pain,

inextricable agony.

When had she felt a torment like this before?

Her wavering memory tried to comprehend what was going on, but as her muscles burst into frenzied spasms, her bodily recall screaming-

never had it been through such a torture until now.

The blood coursing in her veins _burned_.

She stared haplessly at the heavy water's surface, reaching out for something, or nothing- clawing desperately to fight the pull, but she was drowning.

Drowning in a lake of fire.

Skin-splitting, lungs filling until all she could breathe was the horrible flames. A wordless scream escaped her singed throat, and her body, overwhelmed, threw itself into brutal convulsions.

She wished for a reprieve, but it never came. Instead the torment continued, relentless in its attack, filling her lungs with fire. The agony was building up, pulsing faster and faster and she thought she would rupture,

until her eyes glazed over.

Her arms fell limp on her side, and her body slowly ebbed down like an inanimate doll, into the depths of the liquid inferno she had failed to escape.

Searing, intractable pain.

As she watched her memories burn away with her body, a flash of white filled her vision.

The beautiful snow-hued inu wrapped her in a comforting, sheltering warmth in the midst of the torturing inferno.

Her reprieve, she realized.

And she closed her eyes.

* * *

Warmth.

She would have stayed there, curled up into herself with her eyes closed, had she not felt a light trickle of raindrops on her cooling skin.

Rain?

She forced her eyes open, only to have her plunge into an intense amber gaze, her world halting into a magnificent standstill.

 _Beautiful._

He looked at her with curiosity as she slowly became aware of her milieu. Contrasting the stunningly faultless being before her was an inferno that was dying down, embers and smoke rising as the gentle rain treated the fires with a soft lullaby, prodding the fires to sleep.

In her clouded mind, there was one thing she had been very sure of.

She hated rain.

Panic rose in her gut, strangling the air out of her damaged throat- for some reason, it felt wrong to her-

she was not supposed to be here under the rain.

it was a promise, made by someone, a most important promise,

something about a place where it perpetually rained,

and she realized in horror she could not remember.

She lifted her gaze back to him, her reprieve who had cocooned her in that warm light. He was asking her something but she unfortunately missed, so confused she was that she ended up staring at him unintelligently. He stood in the middle of oddly familiar violet flowers, where she had seen them she could not recall.

Her head was throbbing.

The warmth was wearing off, he was pulling it back. Faintly the remnants of pain started trickling on her spine, and a heavy downpour started.

With heartbreak she held her hand out to catch the raindrops that were torturing her so.

* * *

When he jumped in to retrieve her, it was out of mere curiosity. A revolting sight was what he found. He would have left the vile corpse, but something caught his attention.

Her eyes were a blazing vermilion under the darkness of the tranquil lake. So it was to his slight surprise that now, under the moonlight, she gazed back with electric blue.

Aside from that, he eyed at her haughtily with disgust.

The woman-child was damaged everywhere else, her naked body allowing him the most repulsive sight he could not even take his eyes off. Every inch of her was burned beyond recognition. What used to be skin was now blistered, charred leather, the roots of what he assumed as her hair singed, and the pathetic whimpering from damaged lungs grating his ears. She was shivering, as if she were under a downpour, which was inexpiable at that point as it was not raining.

He restrained a shudder in his spine, unable to hold his step back as she dared to study his pristine form with those unnatural eyes.

"What is your name?" He demanded. When she only stared back at him dolefully, his eyes narrowed as his temper rose. He watched her expression pass from reverent, to grateful, to melancholic- and finally, panic.

Unintentionally, his gaze softened. But it was only for a brief moment, before he realized his lapse in control. Reigning in unnecessary pity he tied the loose knots of nonexistent emotions, but before he could even finish,

it snapped back.

It happened when she held out her hand toward him.

He stiffened, and the action brought him back to a memory from long ago. His own damaged body, albeit intact but damaged nonetheless, and a mess of snot and tears,

hands reaching out to someone, anyone, desperate for any sliver of memory,

lost and alone in a strange place.

Without thinking, he reached out and took her hand.

Electric blue eyes widened in surprise, almost looking confused at his action. She stared at their hands, and back to his face, but he held tighter in comfort,

and she cried.

He withdrew his healing mana, but pulled her towards his own bodily warmth, aware of her whimper of pain as burned skin touched the fabric of his yukata.

* * *

When he came back to the inn, she was awake and could barely even move. The girl was covered with white bandages from head to toe , leaving only her nostrils and those unnatural eyes open.

"Gomen ne, I had to drug her this much. The extent of her burns would probably be too painful for her to bear." the demon healer explained. Amber eyes scanned the girl's form.

"Leave us be." he ordered, and the healer bowed in formality. When he heard the shoji door shut, the man took off his kitsune mask and settled it beside him. He did not even try to hide the look of utter disgust in his perfect face as he glowered at her.

She had been looking back at him with those unnerving, deviant eyes. He had surmised they were poly chromatic, judging from the flickering of the bed lamp beside her. Every flicker of darkness turned her eyes electric blue,

and a jump of flame had blazed her pools into vermilion red.

The healer that tended to the girl confirmed she had no aura of anything noteworthy. In short, _nothing of consequence._

He shifted his position.

"I will leave you under the care of the healer until you regain your strength. She has already been paid beforehand." He watched as vermilion eyes seemed to realize what he was saying, and he scowled. "Do not come looking for me."

The girl let out a sound at the back of her throat but failed. His hand twitched, whether to reach out and play executioner, snap the bones on her brittle neck, or comfort her, he restrained himself.

He tilted his head up, platinum white hair falling away from his shoulders, like strands of silk glistening under the lamplight. Before him lay the evidence of his mercy, and merciful he was certainly _**not**_.

His lips curled down in distaste as he watched her struggle to reach out to him. Her display of weakness was a direct reflection of his own. He regretted his decision at that point.

He should have just left her to drown in the lake.

Bringing in a stray was too much of a bother- the last time he did he had been so young, and he did so without thinking. The woman since then clung to him, the only factor that valued her life was that she happened to be a ningen _Elioud_ , and the clan warded their own, Blood of Ill Will or not. Yet unlike the first stray, this... near-corpse was not pretty enough to add to his harem.

Far too young, and far too damaged. There was no chance of healing, if this... thing... would survive at all.

He sat deathly still, unable to make a decision. She whimpered again, but her sudden movement caused her into throes of violent convulsions, a gurgling sound rising from the back of her throat. He did not flinch, instead he watched in fascination, realizing death had come to claim her pathetic form.

As she wrung out in torture, he allowed himself a rare display of affection-

he gathered her convulsing form in his arms. She was dying.

His embrace only tightened, as he bared his soul to her through his warmth, pouring all the disappointment, the anger of being forgotten, of being left to die alone the night he fell into the lake.

At least, he will not let her perish in solitude.

Everything went still.

Her eyes seemed to gloss over, and an expression of peace finally passed her face.

He felt her take her last breath.

The wooden door shut close, leaving the lifeless girl alone in the flicker of the lamplight.

* * *

"And so how do you suggest we dispose of this corpse, _oh great healer_?" the young innkeeper grumbled, his eyes fixated on the obviously dead body that was covered in white linen- _his linens._ The older female glared at him.

"I don't know, doesn't this usually happen in your inn?" she inquired dryly. "I've only worked in sickbeds and battlefields, when they die others usually take the corpse and-"

The innkeeper's eyes bulged out. "What do you think this place is?" he ran his hands through red hair nervously. "No!" he articulated in horror. "This is a _ryokan_. People don't just _die_ here. More so even _unregistered_ people." Sweat started to bead on his forehead at the thought of authority.

"Do you think it is, though?" his voice dropped lower, almost nearing a whisper. When the youkai healer cast him a glance, he huffed. "Unregistered, that is." His seven tails twitched nervously.

When the man in the kitsune mask appeared carrying his suspicious bundle, the fox flat out refused. But he was presented with quite a handsome loot, how could he deny them lodging? It would have been different if the... thing- he could not identify if it were a boy or girl – were alive right now, for they could have easily claimed... it... as a distant relative.

But _it_ was dead, and _it_ had been burned from head to toe. They would need to explain _that_. If they were not able to dispose of it. There was one way to get rid of the evidence completely, and that was to consume the body. He shuddered at the thought. He was definitely not _that_ kind of youkai.

"Where did he say he found... it?" he hesitated, and the healer's gray eyes sobered in the daylight.

"She," she clarified. "She was found in the lake by the borders of Asphodel and Rune."

The innkeeper shot her a confused glare. "The lake? Then why would...she... be toasted? I did not hear of any skirmish going on there,"

The healer shrugged. "Young lad, if I knew I would have already told you."

The innkeeper cleared his throat. "Then why don't we... dispose the body back in the lake?"

An uncomfortable silence permeated through the room.

"Ow!" He lurched, rubbing the back of his head as the healer thwacked him with her staff. "What was that for, old hag?!"

"You idiot," she closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. "How are we supposed to pull that off? Drag the corpse in the middle of the day, and fling it in the _crystal clear_ lake for everyone to see?"

She shook her head. "Don't you have shady friends you can ask favors from?"

"Hey," he straightened in indignation. "I'm not involved in some secret criminal group, if that's what you're implying!" He crossed his hands in front of his chest and pouted. "My mama taught me better than that."

The older youkai forced her lips to purse tighter. If not for the severity of the situation, she would have burst out in sardonic laughter.

A sudden shift in the corner of the room immediately caught their attention. Heads whipped towards the direction of the body,

and time halted to an standstill.

"Uh... did it just-" the innkeeper stiffened as the cloth near its chest shifted again, and his hackles prickled up as the corpse started _breathing_. His sunset eyes flew wide in utter horror as the fiend sat up, letting out the most unearthly groan that could only have come from the place of nightmares. Stumbling back, his mouth was poised to let out his own scream of fear,

when her eyes opened,

and she looked straight at him.

* * *

 **A/N:** Again, if you follow, skip this unnecessary part.

The angel is rescued by a white inu, but he ends up leaving her, thinking she did not survive. But she does, to the horror of the innkeeper.


	4. Ugly Awakening

**_Ugly Awakening_**

* * *

"Where am I?"

she managed, her voice raspy, her throat burning. The throbbing in her head was gone and the pain considerably lessened. She raised the bandage-covered hand in front of her and quietly studied her bodily state.

She had been very sure that she died at some point last night.

A shuffling by the door reminded her that she was not the only occupant in the room. Shifting her gaze up she found two other beings before her, an older woman with black hair, eyes shining with cutting wit, and a younger gentleman wearing a stunned expression. He had sunset eyes and an abundance of red hair, the shade so strikingly familiar it left a curious feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"You are in Asphodel, a youkai village in the dimensional rifts between Niflheim and Rune." The older woman explained carefully.

"Rifts?" she bleated absently. "Youkai?" The girl studied her the physical appearance of her companions. Pointed ears and sharp fangs, a beast tucked in their aura. She did not withdraw from the revelation. She sat quietly still.

Then her thoughts wandered to him, her reprieve, as she recalled so vividly.

A snow-hued inu with a warm soul.

The realization caused her muscles to tense.

"My reprieve," she blurted out, "where is he?"

She was answered with silence, and fear shot through her veins as she remembered the events that occurred the past night. Warning bells rang in her ears as she struggled against the current of dread that washed through her,

something about the _rain,_

rain and a warm soul...

Her muscles coiled painfully and she sprang up, pushing the wooden door open with a loud bang as she bolted out the hallway.

"H-hey!" The innkeeper sputtered, closing his jaw in disbelief as he scrambled to his feet and started pursuit. He skidded towards the doorway. "What are you staring at, ugly?!" he motioned to the equally stupefied healer, grabbing her by the wrist and all but dragged her along with him. "That madwoman is our responsibility now!"

Before she could allow the words to sink in, the older youkai found herself on the girl's trail.

* * *

Navigating through the narrow hallways, she concentrated on the sounds of people reverberating through thin walls. The inn itself was not as big, thankfully, and when she found the main entrance she found her hands shakily pushing the doors away.

What greeted her was not what she had expected.

A blast of hot wind smacked her right in the face, and she staggered back, stunned at the infernal tumult that met her eyes.

The glorious sight had her poleaxed. A carpet of the same peculiar violet flowers were thriving on the dirt, curtaining the solid structures, carpeting the ground where people walked, several patches here and there, but wherever else the flowers did not creep,

everything else was on fire.

And everyone else seemed blind to the destructive flames. The blaze was rampant enough to heat her skin, small tongues of flame breaking off and licking the arid air around her.

Her breath shook, and _she_ shook. Tears started to form in her eyes and she desperately fought back. A light touch on her shoulder brought her out of her lament. Looking down at her was the red-headed youkai, his seven fox-tails drooped behind him, his eyes watching her with concern.

"What is this place...?" she involuntarily leaned on him for support, her knees giving way.

* * *

When she opened the main doors of his inn, the girl staggered back as if a ton of explosives had detonated on her face. The young innkeeper and the healer stopped in confusion, and she stood by the door, stunned by whatever her crazy mind was hallucinating.

The younger youkai slowly walked up behind her and squinted his eyes, struggling to see whatever had so obviously troubled her.

He frowned. It was a perfectly fine day, not a cloud in the blue sky, and the crowd loitering around, tending to their own business in the bustling marketplace. Seeing that the girl had frozen to her spot, he gently touched her shoulder. It was then that she spun around, vermilion eyes disturbingly brighter under the sun, a deranged, almost maniacal quality to the tone of her raspy voice.

"What is this place...?" she despaired, and he struggled to grasp the context of her question, for she _did not make any sense._ He braced her in his hold as she collapsed against him, her fingers digging into his arm. Their eyes locked.

"The flowers," she apprehended with horror, "can't you see the flowers?!"

"Jou-chan," he hesitated, answering softly, carefully. "There are no flowers-"

He felt her stiffen as her eyes fell on the diner, and the people, gathered before them. The entire inn had been awfully quiet; the numerous patrons and servers remained slack-jawed at the spectacle she had created. "No..." she whispered, "there are flowers," then she screamed.

"There _ARE_ flowers!"

She sprung away from his support and launched again to start another chase. The fox youkai turned to the healer and gave out a sigh of disbelief, before running out after her, disappearing at the corner of the door.

"What are you all looking at?" the older youkai snapped at the accidental audience, and they cleared their throats, shook heads and some had remained stunned. She gathered herself and raced after.

* * *

They found her by the borders of Asphodel and the rift to Rune, by the lake where the man with the kitsune mask supposedly found her. She had calmed down considerably, her breaths, although shaky, were deliberate. The noon sun was high up at the sky and the golden rays reflected the crystal clear depths of the large body of water.

"The lake is as peaceful and quiet as always," The lady healer settled down beside her. "Your _reprieve_..." she started, "He paid me more than what it was worth," she took the girl's hand and readjusted a loose portion of her bandage. "Unless you are a warlord who marches to battle every two seasons, the payment is actually enough to cover a lifetime of minor ailments, even a handful of births." she patted the fresh knot.

The girl regarded her quietly, and brought her empty gaze back to the quiet lake.

A shuffling of feet and rustle of leaves from behind them, and the fox plopped unceremoniously down the grass, arms crossed in front of him. "He also paid me too much," he hid the blush in his cheeks. "You can keep the room." his blush rose a notch higher, "But you will have to work alongside me for your food and clothing and shit," he cleared his throat. "No one else will be willing to hire you as you are right now, like a mummified wreck."

"Th-thank you," was her hesitant reply, and she cast her glance further down the lake.

"Do you know the man who rescued you?" the healer squeezed her hand, and the girl shook her head. "Where do you come from? How did you end up in the lake?" The older youkai exhaled slowly. "How about your name? Do you remember your name?"

The girl struggled for a moment, but then her breath steadied.

"Kagome," she closed her eyes. "I know my name is Kagome,"

The healer nodded her approval. "Kagome, as of now, we should focus on your healing- who knows, your memory might return as you recover,"

Silent tears streaked down the girl's cheeks.

"If it is meant to be, your paths might cross again. Then you can thank him formally. "

The girl remained quiet as she nodded her head, allowing her eyes to drain out her sorrow, and confusion, and disbelief.

For she knew that where they saw a tranquil, peaceful body of water,

In her eyes, there was a swirling ocean of chaos, a raging sea of fire.

And the flowers, they were still surrounded by the flowers.

* * *

 **A/N:** Summary: Skip if you don't need this.

She wakes up in a strange place with no memory except for her name. A distant, vague memory floats by, and panicked, she runs outside. The healer offers to take care of her, the innkeeper offers her a place to stay. She goes back to the lake, a tranquil body of water to them, a sea of fire to her. In her eyes, she sees a burning hell carpeted with violet flowers.


	5. The Procession

**A/N** : The Elioud, again, is clan who are the only humans who can somehow survive in the rift called Asphodel. They don't hold any power, only a select few of them actually have the mysterious Blood of Ill Will. And those are referred to as their Nobles.

* * *

 _ **The Procession**_

* * *

The marketplace was full, being the second day of a three day traditional festival held for the mark of another year of existence. People shot curious glances at the bandaged girl, holding an open umbrella over her head despite the clear night. With a package of tofu tucked carefully between her arm, she trudged along to a less populated road, the people and establishments getting sparser until what was left was an open clearing. Kagome finally reached her destination.

The cliff overlooking the "tranquil lake."

Immediately, electric blue eyes erupted into vermilion flames.

Quietly, Kagome fixated herself on the inferno before her. It was the same as the first time she had seen it. The ocean of liquid fire danced, breaking into a swirl of molten chaos, lulling her into a trance.

 _Twelve seasons have passed._

The innkeeper, Fumiko, registered her as his half-sister. Much to her gratefulness, he actually _treated_ _her as one_. He even went to the lengths of calling the Apple Tree "their ryokan." She felt her face heat when he introduced her to his fiancee, another fox youkai named Kaoru.

Those two were perfect for each other. And tomorrow, on the third day of the festival,

he will finally be proposing to the woman.

Holding out her wrapped hand, she shyly extended it out of the protection of her umbrella, feeling the ever so light drizzle soak against cotton on her skin.

Only at night, always at night, this rain.

And come daytime, an unending wildfire.

 _The flowers were especially fragrant tonight._

"Catching imaginary raindrops again?" A familiar voice vouched, and she spun around and smiled.

"Kaede," Kagome breathed, and ditching her umbrella she ran into the warm embrace of her dear friend.

* * *

When the healer finished adjusting the loose ends of her bandages, she gave the girl a curious look.

"A beautiful lady like you shouldn't wander alone at the streets at night, let alone a secluded area like that." Kaede chastised, studying the girl's room with a bored disinterest. Kagome stretched like a cat, testing her newly mummified-self smugly.

"You don't have to worry about that," The girl waved off a dismissive hand, tucking her hair underneath a white scarf. "I am not beautiful, neither am I a lady. No _Elioud Noble_ will whisk me away to their estate and integrate me to their harem." Kagome gave the most unladylike snort that sounded painfully familiar.

Resisting the urge to find and literally knock some sense into a certain fox youkai's head, Kaede instead opted another route.

"You are healing nicely," the youkai pointed out, and the girl nodded. Kaede's scrutinizing gaze fell on the girl. She was not ningen. If she were, those burns would have disfigured her for life. But healing at this quality negated that, so her being an Elioud female was crossed out.

"Faster than I anticipated..." she pressed on, dismissing the thought of the possibility of the girl holding a beast. She did not hold any sliver of youkai energy. But she was not the occasional Fey either, no milieu magic surrounded her.

What she held instead was a dull reverberation on the surface of her soul, like a massive taiko drum, echoing like distant thunder when her older ki prodded hers.

"He might not recognize me if I ditched the bandages, if we ever meet again." Kagome finally admitted.

"Ah."

"I haven't seen him around," Kagome demurred. "Could he be an Elioud Noble?"

Kaede repressed a shudder. The presence of the ningen Elioud was a newer event in Asphodel, despite their deep integration into the rift. It had only been a course of a hundred years since they set foot and claimed the land and its people as their own.

Yet no one dared to question their reign, for as fragile as their mortality and limited power, their nobles possessed one thing that brought the denizens of Asphodel on their knees: _the_ _Blood of Ill Will._

Kaede withdrew her thoughts as she heard a tap on the door. "He could very well be a passing traveler,"

She saw Kagome's eyes dim considerably. Lightly tapping her slumped shoulders in reassurance, Kaede smiled. "I just don't want to give you false hope, child." She said honestly. A head peeked in, a familiar red fox, his grin reaching his ears as he held a box of sweet cakes, followed by a pretty brunette, waving at her.

* * *

"Are you sure about this, Kagome-chan?" Kaoru fussed, rearranging the smaller girl's hair wrap. Kagome still hid her hair and appearance under cloth and bandage, and Kaoru frowned. "Fumiko-kun will be livid once he finds out you ran off. We planned to enjoy the festival together, anyway."

"Of course, Kaoru. I don't find the idea of being the third wheel all night particularly appealing." Kagome lied. It was the third night of the festival, and she smiled at the memory of Fumiko's rambling practice earlier. Tonight was _their_ night.

"You will not be the third wheel!" Kaoru gasped. "If anything, Fumiko-kun will be. And a flat wheel at that."

The women giggled.

Smiling, Kagome suddenly wrapped the brunette in her arms. "Have a wonderful evening," she squeezed, the surprised brunette watched the girl as she opened her useless umbrella, and disappeared into the swarm of people.

* * *

The crowd was heavier than usual, and Kagome's eyes darted from one stall to another. Street performers would hold her attention every once in a while, and she would stop and watch in awe. The soaked heads of the oblivious ningen and youkai made her want to laugh.

The denizens of Asphodel wore moisture-wicking kimono as standard. They had attributed the abnormal humidity of the night as milieu of Asphodel, but they did not see what she was seeing.

A look of sadness passed her face.

"Or maybe I really am the crazy one." she whispered to herself.

She closed her eyes, wishing her mind was normal for once, that when she opened them, she would would miraculously see normally.

But when she did open them, she froze in her spot.

* * *

The crowd fell into an abnormal hush. Heavy hoofs and carriages trudged along the brick pathway. The flapping of banners slapped crisply around the tense air, a dizzying display of bright colors and royal symbolism enough warning to keep the commoners at bay.

"What a rare sight,"

"Rare indeed..."

She strained to listen to the muted conversations. As the parade approached, people were standing on tiptoe. Somehow, the tail end of the procession had caught everyone's interest, but it was the middle that caught Kagome's attention.

Goosebumps instantly rode underneath her bandages.

There were nine large palanquins burdened on retainer's shoulders. Even at a distance, the auras it held were slick and heavy, and Kagome could almost feel the slimy chi rolling off in waves on her skin. She shuddered. The girl had to physically check herself if there really wasn't anything crawling on her.

"Eh? Never seen them nobles before?"

As they neared her hackles stood. Ningen, she realized, there was that underlying earthly scent that humans gave off. Her blood screamed, and she reeled involuntarily. Kagome felt as if she was doused with grime and sludge.

"I'm not talking about the nobles."

"Not the nobles?"

The girl halfway turned to leave when a man pointed to the tail end of the procession.

"Ah, it really is a rare sight."

Kagome cast her glaze to where the man had pointed to. Five heavily armored men were mounted on towering battle horses, katana and wakizashi strapped on their waist. Their formidable auras hung thickly in the already humid air.

It was then that her eyes settled on the single individual in the middle of the cuirassiers, and her world instantly came into a halt.

"It's them,"

"The Warlords."

* * *

The vision of white halted her heartbeat.

The lax ponytail that held his platinum white hair was now high and tight on his head, sharpening the angles of his still perfect face. A tawny-haired warlord beside him leaned over to whisper something, and his amber eyes lit up in malevolent intent. Haughty nose held up, his lips curled to a malicious smirk that made him look _predatory_.

He was different, he was cold. Yet he was _there_ , beautiful, and yes, even when he was surrounded by the thick, heavy jaki, it did not suffocate his own. Although mortality still hung around him, he did not hold that distinctive earthly scent, and his aura was lacking that slimy quality the other Eliouds held.

There still was that darkness integrated in his energy field- so much she could almost feel it eating off the disgusting ki around him, vainly warding off the muck, darkness fraying darkness.

And so Kagome let out a breath. Finally, after twelve seasons of waiting.

She found him.

"Ouji-sama!" Kagome cried out, mindlessly gambling herself into the middle of the procession. There was a temporary scuffle at the edges.

She ended up landing painfully on the hard ground.

"Ouji-sama," she tried again, only to collide against a hard, armor-clad chest. The soldier she ran into blinked, momentarily distracted.

"Eh? Flower girl?" the gruff voice blurted out. She raised her gaze, aware of the criticizing attention she was attracting the crowd, aware of the painful nickname. She recognized the soldier as one of the patrons at the ryokan. "What the hell are you doing?" The soldier picked her up and dusted her dirtied shoulders as if he were scolding a little child. The procession dragged along, and Kagome made a gesture to catch up, growing desperate as the vision of pristine white was disappearing before her. The guard only stopped her, hands firm on her shoulders. "Flower girl," he absconded again, reeling the agitated girl back. She blinked distractedly.

"I don't know what you're planning, but _please_. Don't make a scene. Not here. Not with _them_."

The older soldier, with weary eyes and a rough, yet firm grasp, was looking at her with genuine concern. As she stood still, stunned, a gentler hand rested on her small shoulder.

She turned to the familiar warmth.

"Is my sister causing trouble again?" Fumiko grumbled, pulling Kagome's small frame against his chest. A determined Kaoru stepped between the guard and the two siblings, fangs haplessly bared in a protective snarl.

The soldier could only shake his head in resignation.

"She would have, Fumiko-san. Please keep a leash on her," he sighed, sounding so very _tired._ "I understand she is naïve to Asphodel, but her ignorance could someday cost her life."

The fox's grip was like steel against her, and they watched as the soldier rejoined his cavalry, disappearing into the night.

* * *

"So he is... one of the warlords."

Kaede let out a long exhale.

Beside her, Kaoru made a whistling sound. Fumiko sat quiet beside his fiancée, his seven tails twitching intermittently.

"So what have you decided, child?" Kaede peered curiously at Kagome, who seemed to be lost in her own world. "Do you still want to associate with him again?" Much to her disappointment, the girl nodded her head.

"I owe him a life debt, I can't just-" Kagome's voice trailed off, and she found herself unable to explain.

Kaoru, thankfully perceptive enough of her struggle, heaved a sigh of resignation. She leaned her head on Kagome's shoulders.

Kaede shifted. "This was supposed to be a secret, but.. there will be a covert depredation." Her pale blue eyes met Kagome's. "It will involve three Warlords, one of them is the Killing Perfection... Sesshomaru-sama."

After a long stretch of silence,

"They are recruiting a healer. You can go, as a learning apprentice in my place."

Kagome's eyes flew open. "Kaede,"

Fumiko then finally spoke, looking away. "Go. There is probably no stopping you, anyway."

"Thank you!" Kagome tackled both in a hug. When she released them, Fumiko patted Kagome's head.

"Just as long as you don't die on us first," he warned. "If you die on us I will kill you." Fumiko's hand slowly rested on the girl's delicately bandaged cheeks and pulled hard. "I will raise you back from the dead and kill you."

Gently Kagome took Fumiko's hand and folded it in her own, squeezing it in reassurance.

* * *

A life debt. She had never been under the duress of one until now, and she wondered if her lost memory would be so kind as to miraculously show her how to go about with it. Kagome frowned. Surely her past life was more mundane and uneventful than this.

She reached out and cupped her hands to catch the nightly raindrops that were ever so present in Asphodel. Her bandages instantly soaked, the rain was heavy tonight.

Her thoughts wandered. As much as she was thankful for her newfound doting family,

She wondered if someone from her past was looking for her,

if anyone missed her absence.

Instantly, memories of his warm amber gaze filled her mind, and she recalled.

The moment his eyes met hers, she was consumed with a warmth that smothered her,

an intense longing,

and profound loneliness that only someone who had been lost and never found

could only possess.

Beneath that cold exterior, when she stood trembling in his arms, she knew at that instant:

he was just as lost as she was, and the way he clung to her hungrily that night was his deeply supressed frustration of being forgotten.

He saw himself in her own eyes.

"Ouji-sama," she whispered, "Why does it feel as if I've met you before?"

* * *

A/N: Kagome attempts normalcy at this strange world, but she still struggles. She still sees the flowers, the rain at night and burning hell at daytime, and the people remain oblivious. The innkeeper has adopted her as his sister. In a yearly festival she stumbles upon a procession of Elioud Nobles, and finds out her rescuer is a warlord. She resolves to repay her life debt, with the feeling she had known him before.


	6. The Healer's Apprentice

**_A/N:_** Kagome is still covered in bandages.

* * *

 ** _The Healer's Apprentice_**

* * *

"Girl, it isn't necessary to be gentle with me. I am a soldier, for hell's sake." He chortled, and mischievous vermilion eyes flashed.

"O-oOOWW!" the soldier screamed, drawing his arm from the demented girl. She had literally thrust the soaked bandage _inside_ his wound. "Bitch! What was that for!?"

"My apologies, noble soldier. Sessha was only packing your wound." She continued to wrap a fresh roll on his arm, ignoring the glower that was plastered on his face. She remained oblivious to the suffering she had bestowed on him and continued about with her routine. "There, all done!" she smiled at him sweetly, proceeded to shove him off the bench. "As good as new!" she chirped, slapping her new handiwork a little too enthusiastically, making sure she hit _that_ particular spot. The soldier reeled in pain.

He turned back and shot her a string of curses, she waved at him cheerily.

He disappeared at the doorway. Shrugging her shoulders she turned back to her little corner, cleaning up the excess white gauze scattered around.

A chuckle was heard from behind.

"You do know that there is a salve to at least numb the pain when packing wounds." The older woman's voice lilted, and Kagome did not bother to turn to the source. She knew who it was.

"He asked to be spared a caring hand, Midoriko-san. I was only complying to his wishes. A patient has the right to-"

 _Thwack!_

It was Kagome's turn to reel in pain, rubbing the crown of her head where wood connected to skull. She bit back another smart ass reply in fear of another blow.

Now she knew where Kaede had acquired her habit of knocking people unconscious.

"You remain within the conduct of a healer regardless of how patients treat you." Kaede's mentor folded her arms across his chest. She did a double take on the girl. Kagome's shoulders were slumped, her movement erratic. The healer exhaled. "I saved some stew in my tent. Go and eat. You literally look like a walking corpse."

Kagome turned and nodded at her. "Hai!" she stood and hastily tried to finish her clean-up.

The old woman turned and gave her a sidelong glance.

"Oh, and _they_ have arrived from the reconnaissance... you might want to assess how much work we shall be in tonight."

The girl perked up, eyes flying wide. Kagome practically bolted out of the tent, dropping the pieces she had so carefully gathered.

The old woman couldn't help but chuckle at her silly infatuation.

* * *

Kagome hid herself behind a tree and scanned her vision across the crowd of wounded soldiers. She had heard rumors of the unfamiliar terra they were involved in, and that fact alone caused her such unrest. Even in her deranged mind, she knew unexplored terrain was extremely dangerous. Her sight finally settled on a familiar white form, and she sighed in relief.

He was safe, albeit wounded, but safe.

 _Sesshomaru-sama._

She knew that the Warlords were out of her reach, she will not even have the chance to come as close as she did to him during the festival, but as long as he was within her range of vision, it was all that mattered.

Her ruminations were cut short when she noticed his arm all bandaged up. Too bad they did not trust commoners to tend to _their_ wounds. They only utilized Elioud elders to do the job. After all, aside from the Blood of Ill Will, it was their knowledge of the forbidden magic that made them a frightening lot.

She watched as he disappeared into his tent. Realizing she was soaked all over, she smiled bitterly.

A mentally damaged nobody like her had no place near someone like him.

But she owed him a life debt, and she was determined to repay it.

Exactly how, Kagome had no idea.

* * *

"So what did you guys find out?" Kagome coaxed as she patted a freshly bandaged leg, hoping the soldier would at least spare her a morsel of information. He seemed trusting enough.

"Ah, we didn't go very far, Jou-chan. Only to the edge of a vast steppe...

there we lost half of our men." His eyes stared off to a distance. It was only when Kagome gently placed her hand on his shoulder did he seem to rouse back to the present.

"The scouts that were at the head of the cavalry- they disappeared into thin air... as if swallowed by the grass." He leaned back, repressing a shiver. "We must have triggered something, for Akuma yoma suddenly appeared in droves and ambushed us."

Kagome poured the last brew of herbal tea and offered it to the soldier. Akuma, she had read about them from an illustrated book of dangerous youkai Kaede had gifted to her eight seasons ago.

He drew in a pained breath as he sat up, rounding his thoughts. "It was a good thing that three Warlords were there. Of course, Sesshomaru-sama's presence warranted that number, they protect him as if he were made of glass."

She finally sent the soldier off and was closing her tent when the downpour in her mind finally started. She looked up at the dark, raincloud-riddled sky, remembering the soldier's parting words: _"They send him off to war yet try to enclose him in a glass cage. A monster, he truly is."_

* * *

Midoriko watched her temporary apprentice as she absently poured the liquid into the packing gauze canister.

"You have to mix the tincture to the water before you do that, or else you would only be packing watered gauze into their raging wounds."

Kagome drew back, snapping from her trance. "Oh," she blabbered, and took the other pitcher beside her, _drinking water_ , and poured it in the canister.

Realizing her mistake she froze, grimacing as she anticipated another thwack in the head that would probably render her unconscious for the rest of the afternoon.

That blow did not come. Instead, "I assume the letter you received from earlier was from your brother."

Kagome cast a worried look at the offending letter.

"Fumi is having second thoughts of me being here."

She sighed. "The exact line he wrote: 'If I hear word of you getting harmed in any way, I will drag your ass back to the Ryokan and shackle you to chains.'"

Midoriko mentally laughed at the image. Knowing Fumiko, that possibility was entirely true. Leaving her post she shifted, motioning to the bucket beside her. "I need you to refill that with water for tomorrow. We are moving forward again. DO NOT be distracted on your way." She carefully instructed, knowing the girl's short attention span. "I requested for another healer, I get an idiot with no healing powers." Midoriko shook her head.

Kagome merely nodded and picked up the empty bucket, heading out.

"Midoriko-san," Kagome stopped by the opening and turned, a genuine smile gracing her hidden face. "Thank you... for accepting me, even though my reasons are less than honorable. You are... a great healer, now I know where Kaede took after."

The old woman smiled as the younger bowed slightly and ran off, and the good doctor couldn't help but chuckle as she proceeded to pack up the rest of their supplies.

* * *

Kagome felt the warm breeze hit her face as she ran. Thankfully where they settled, the carpet of flowers had spread wide enough it had kept the flames at bay. She headed towards a small stream at the edge of the encampment. A true stream, in her eyes, at least there was one thing the real world and her own mind had agreed upon. Kagome knelt before the flowing water and admired the feel of the cold on her bandaged hand.

They were a week's worth travel southbound, deeper into the unknown of Asphodel, to the direction of Niflheim. Tomorrow they will be moving forward again, at least to where the Warlords determined safe.

Something shifted from beside her. Startled, Kagome came face-to-face with a familiar woman soldier. It was one of Sesshomaru-sama's lieutenants... _Ayame_ , she recalled the name. Giddy, Kagome offered her a smile, only to be rewarded with a scoff from the pretty lady.

"I know you," the lieutenant acknowledged. "You are Midoriko's apprentice," she continued, eyeing Kagome suspiciously from head to toe. The soldier splashed her face with the cool water and sighed, momentarily forgetting the girl's presence.

"I see you stop by the camp every night." The lady soldier flopped onto the grass and watched the clear sky overhead. Dusk was settling in, and the beautiful hue of the sunset calmed her.

Kagome continued to run her hands in the cool stream when she stiffened. "W- what about your camp?"

"I see you stop by the camp every night." Ayame repeated, smirking.

The lieutenant restrained herself from laughter when there was a clatter of metal beside her, and soft cursing that followed. Deciding to relieve the girl from embarrassment she gave her a second glance.

The girl held curious blue eyes, Ayame was so sure it had been vermilion a while ago when the sun had not set. She shrugged.

"Don't be all flustered, ojou-chan. No one else has noticed. And I assure you, you wont have any problems with any man's attention here." She informed her brutally. "His harem is incomparable, only the most beautiful he takes in."

Kagome carefully retrieved the spilled bucket and stared at the lieutenant sprawled bonelessly beside her. "Are you part of it, then?" Kagome asked, and the soldier tilted her head towards her. "His Harem, I mean. You are... very pretty."

The young lieutenant carefully studied the woman-child before her. There was no hint of envy in her voice, it was a genuine complement. "Thank you," Ayame brought her gaze back to the sky. "But no, that I am not. I am mated to Miroku. He may be a sheep compared to Sesshomaru-sama's intensity, but that Fey Warlord would sure not appreciate his wife initiating affairs with his friend."

"Ah," Kagome nodded thoughtfully. Miroku was that inky-black haired warlord that frequented Sesshomaru-sama's side. Then she tilted her head thoughtfully. "You mean to say your husband is Fey?"

The lieutenant finally shifted, smoothing rustled silk. "The warlords are good mixture. The only one to carry the Blood of Ill Will in their group is Sesshomaru-sama. The rest of the clan, especially the council," she grimaced at the mention, "they're cowards." She chuckled as she picked up her armor.

"They try to preserve their precious cursed blood as much as they can and hide."

As the lieutenant turned to leave, she spared a parting look to the pondering girl. "By the way, I suggest you cease that pitiful stalking. You were lucky it was I who happened upon you. Heck, I didn't even notice you standing beside me until you shifted. Scared the crap out of me." She watched in hidden amusement as the girl's jaw fell.

"Y-you were there...?" Kagome stuttered, and the lieutenant casually waved a goodbye at her. "It was nice talking to you, jou-chan." the lady melted into the encampment.

* * *

 _'That was embarrassing.'_

Kagome mentally cringed. First impressions and she was already labeled as a _stalker_ from someone in his inner circle.

She did not know how long she had been sitting there. Snapping into attention, Midoriko's blunt instructions echoed through her head. _DO NOT be distracted on your way_.

She cringed again as the sensation of wood against her head tingled.

As Kagome struggled to gather her precious bucket, her eyes suddenly caught a sudden flock of black birds taking flight in the raincloud-riddled sky.

Her heart started hammering through her chest, pounding as if it wanted to break free.

Kagome's eyes widened in this foreign fear of the unknown-

so new, yet deeply familiar. As the light drizzle started in her crazy mind, she hastily gathered herself and bolted to the campsite, metal bucket in tow.

* * *

A/N: Sorry, some characters will only play a minor part here in the AU, if they even play a part here at all. I suck at writing group transitions. :P So for those who dont follow:

Kagome joins the depredation as a healers apprentice. As they move forward, the warlord's scouting mission resulted in an ambush, and a soldier recalls the event. Kagome is content that she can at least see her reprieve.

She encounters Ayame, Sesshomaru's lieutenant. As she goes back, she is given a warning. She rushes back.


	7. Akuma

_**A/N:** _

_Alice - Puppetmaster_

 _Jotun - A race of giants that come from a dimension called Jotunheim_

* * *

 ** _Akuma_**

* * *

She had just reached the edge of the campsite when something massive,

and monstrous-

shot inches past her.

Kagome froze on her spot.

Her eyes fell to the dark sky as the light drizzle started. Screams engulfed the camp, and the girl remained paralyzed at the feeling, that oh so familiar feeling gnawing at her soul.

Multiple voices were whispering to her in a language she couldn't understand- and a static hum nibbled at her ears. The whispers were getting louder, and louder, until it was as loud as the screams, and the hum evolved into a drumming, a distant rumble of thunder that disturbed her.

It sounded so familiar.

Something tugged at her to turn, perhaps it was the voices? But Kagome did, and when she spun around, she saw them.

The illustrations in the book did not do them any justice.

Three Akuma beasts raged through the clearing. Gargantuan bull youkai with poisonous horns that jutted like outward jaws from their eyeless heads, their worm-like mouths snapping with dagger-like teeth, leaking poison from their wake.

 _Blind_ creatures, but what they lack in vision they compensated too much in gore. These beasts were highly sensitive to energy signatures, devouring anything that possessed even a sliver of mana.

In a gush of wind, they dashed past her. As if she were invisible.

The unknown language did not want to be ignored. It was relentless, and the drumming in Kagome's ears remained, and it was painful. Like taiko drums, except the pounding was from inside her soul.

Then she realized: Everything was speaking to her.

The ground,

the trees, the flowers-

the very energy of the milieu.

And she understood what they said.

 _There were more coming, and an Alice was in control._

The moment the message reached her, the whispering hushed, and Kagome's feet carried her towards the one familiar place her confused mind directed her to-

Midoriko's tent.

* * *

She staggered back at the sight, of the blood and carnage and the pieces of guts that lay strewn across the floor. The bloodied staff of the old doctor flung into the corner, a severed _hand_ still attached to it.

Kagome's mind reeled as she physically stepped back, a hand over her mouth in a futile attempt to push back the bile that was rising in her throat. There was a clatter from behind, and she spun around.

Her legs literally gave way. An Akuma beast stood just inches before her, its rancid breath fanning her trembling face. She shut her eyes closed, the drumming in her soul reaching to deafening heights. She would have held her hands over her ears to drown it but her muscles locked rigid at the presence of the beast towering above her.

Her jaw clamped painfully shut as she waited.

Then, with a strong huff, it turned the other way and left, neglecting her as it had in their arrival.

Kagome sat there, dumbfounded.

* * *

"Midoriko!" Ayame desperately called out, ripping the tent open with her katana. Two of the three healers had already went missing, and she already could conclude their fate. The moment her eyes fell on the bloodied staff and severed hand, she let out a growl of frustration. Those damn beasts.

Something shifted from the corner and the lieutenant broke short. Huddled in the dark was that bandage-covered girl from earlier, who turned around and stared at her, a shell-shocked expression in her eyes.

Ayame's hackles stood.

In the darkness and bedlam, the girl's electric blue eyes seemed to glow.

"Lieutenant-san!" she sprang up and clung to her, the girl's trembling body snapping the soldier out of her trance. "Sesshomaru-sama, is he alright?"

"He is," Ayame answered curtly, unable to hide the amusement in her voice despite the gravity of the situation. "Come now," she started as she tugged at the smaller woman. "Before the yoma find us."

"Where to?" the bandaged girl hesitated as they broke into a mad run, but she stopped when she realized they were running towards the stream. "No." The lieutenant herself halted, it was utter chaos everywhere, the campsite was on fire and soldiers were being _ravaged_ , but the girl froze as if she was hit by an ice wall.

"Idiot! We're not luring the Akuma further to the direction of Asphodel!" Ayame yelled as she pulled the girl's hand forcibly. The fool, however, remained frozen in her spot. "We are to regroup by the edge of the camp."

The girl persisted on her dazed stare, and just when Ayame stepped forward to deliver a slap to her face, a beast appeared before them.

* * *

Sinewy tails swished in anticipation. Without warning it lunged at the lieutenant, but before jaws could connect to her pretty face, the smell of metal sliced through the air, and the figure of dark blue kimono and armor stood between them.

"Miroku!" The lieutenant choked out, and the warlord tightened his grasp. He was holding his katana and wakizashi across together, shielding them from the snapping mouth of the Akuma.

Inky-black hair fell across his handsome face. "What are you doing disobeying direct orders?" Teeth clenched as he gathered his strength and infused Fey magic into his sword and delivered a direct blast towards the beast, sending the bull off-balance as it skidded to the side. "Run!" The Warlord snapped, and the lieutenant grabbed the girl by the waist and hauled her off, carrying her like a rag-doll towards the edge of the camp.

* * *

Ayame dropped her on the grass, exhausted. They had met another Akuma on the way and they narrowly escaped, had it not been for the help of other high-level soldiers that aided them.

The lieutenant looked across her companion, and chucked her tongue. "You're such an idiot," she blurted out. "You almost got us killed."

"Sorry," the girl replied quietly.

"Argh!" Ayame tugged at her red hair. "I don't want to die yet! Not at this time." she failed to notice the girl's eyes carefully settled on her. "I still want to bear children, his children!" She finally sobered, and her voice softened into a whisper that anyone could barely hear. "What if _he_ dies? What would happen then?"

Ayame then tried to calm herself down. The poor girl was probably terrified to death, and there she was ranting at her. It was not even her fault! Guilt started to consume the lieutenant as she remembered how the girl's body trembled against her in the tent.

"Where are the others?" came the girl's quiet inquiry, and Ayame turned to the campsite.

"Most of the cavalry can defend themselves... I was tasked to round up the healers- as they cannot defend themselves from such attacks. But it looks like you're the only one that's left."

"I am no healer." The girl croaked out bitterly as she fisted the tattered hem of her yukata on her hands.

Ayame chuckled at her honesty.

"Hey, what is your name?" she casually threw, but there was no answer. "Hey, jou-chan. What is your na-"

She stopped short.

* * *

The sight of her eerie blue eyes caught the soldier again as they stared blankly into the clearing. It was wide and vulnerable, riddled in fear and a sense of foreboding doom.

"O-oi, jou-chan, cut that out." Ayame warned, but the girl's haunting eyes shifted towards _her-_

and she swore goosebumps rode underneath her armor.

A distant thundering sound caught her attention, and the lieutenant's eyes fell upon the clearing before her.

The wind gently blew across the tall grass.

Something was deathly, terribly wrong. She felt the ground beneath her feet and sensed a distant rumble.

"More approach," the little onna announced, and the lieutenant's hackles stood on end at the ominous warning. The ground started shaking, and indeed, like a fog rising up from the ground, the vision of an Akuma horde appeared, thundering towards the encampment.

There was no way they could outrun them.

Ayame suddenly felt cold all over.

"Lieutenant-san,"

The lieutenant startled at the close proximity of the girl's voice.

Ayame realized she had fallen on her knees, and the girl had whispered in her ear.

The girl was crushing her in her fragile arms. Ayame could hear the beat of the girl's heart thundering across her chest: it was as loud as the barging hoofs of the approaching beasts.

"Stay close to me." the girl whispered as she shut her eyes, tightening her hold.

The lieutenant's eyes remained open, fixated on their impending demise.

* * *

"Impossible." the soldier whispered in utter disbelief.

" _Impossible_."

The monstrous beasts were thundering into the campsite, poison on their wake- but their gruesome forms brushed past them as if they were _nothing._

"Ojou-chan..." she faltered, her words failing her.

The last of the horde raged past them, they emerged _unscathed_.

"I see the Alice," the girl answered, and it was the lieutenant's turn to tremble. The Akuma had reached the campsite, and Ayame drew back to stare at her face.

Her blue eyes flickered red against the flames of the burning campsite. She pointed behind the lieutenant, and slowly the soldier turned, struggling to comprehend.

The onna was pointing to a little bird perched on top of a tree, one of the few trees that was not engulfed in flames. It was watching the chaos almost very calmly, and the way it had blended into the background it was impossible to have her notice if it had not been pointed out so bluntly.

 _Puppet master._

Steeling herself, Ayame grabbed the girl by the waist and hauled her off again, this time, into the dancing flames, in the middle of the chaos itself.

* * *

Ayame's eyes immediately found what she was trained to locate countless times.

He was surrounded by a fortress of soldiers, fighting off the Akuma that had gathered.

"Sesshomaru-sama!" she yelled, capturing the attention of her lord. Amber eyes spared her a brief glance- the arrival of the horde was overpowering them, they could not afford to lose even a second.

"Alice!" his lieutenant pointed overhead, and the moment she did, the bird set flight, leaving a rain of feathers on its wake.

A surge of lightning ran from Sesshomaru's reiki and struck, and the bird fell to the ground. The remaining beasts swayed, the damage to its Alice affecting them, giving the soldiers a fighting chance. As the chaos resumed, Miroku and the tawny-haired Warlord collected beside Sesshomaru as they drew their swords in preparation for a strike.

The bird twitched and ruptured, and out burst a cross between a Jotun and Youkai, misshapen arms struck, not giving them time to prepare for the blow. Binds were shot from the tawny-haired warlord's magic and his feet dragged across the ground, his immense strength restraining the writhing beast.

The binds held, but they were fraying. Miroku and Sesshomaru charged their Katanas with their reiki and the swords came crashing towards the giant fiend. Their swords connected against flesh and sliced a good chunk off , but it did not fell the Puppet master.

The twelve-foot abomination screeched, and their ears literally bled.

Meanwhile on the background, Kagome sat in the middle of the chaos watching the scene unfold before her very eyes. She had somehow remained invisible to the blind beasts. The damaged Akuma charged at the Warlords and the high level soldiers struggled to ward them off.

The whispering picked up.

"She will be summoning more." she whispered, wiping off blood that dripped from her ears. Ayame stood and gathered herself.

"Sesshomaru-sama! The Alice is summoning more!" the lieutenant echoed, and the tawny-haired lord clenched his teeth in sheer force.

"Finish it off! I can't hold much longer!" his muscles bunched as his binds started snapping, and right as he gathered his magic to reinforce, the binds ripped and tore.

The Alice bound to the nearest high level energy it could reach-

straight at the warlord Miroku.

The Faery drew his sword, but all in the knowledge that it was too late.

* * *

A flash of white impeded the attack, and what stood between the monster and the fey

was the Killing Perfection, Sesshomaru.

His hair glistened like silken snow under the moonlight, pristine white kimono making him look like a beautiful apparition. There was a curious discoloration spreading on his sleeve, the sleeve of his arm:

his bloodied arm-

his offering to the beast as it sunk its sword-like teeth deeper into his flesh.

"Sesshomaru-" Miroku shuddered, and the amber-eyed warlord remained still as he stood his ground, denying the monster access to the fairy warlord behind him.

"Sesshomaru," The warlord repeated, until he realized the blood lust-crazed smile curving on the beautiful warlord's lips.

Miroku stepped back, eyes flying open in alarm. "Nobume." he absently sought.

The tawny-haired warlord fell back behind the Fey as a barrier immediately flew up between them and the white Warlord. Nobume merely chuckled as he strengthened his transparent barrier.

The beast suddenly staggered back, screeching. It was not a summon, but a cry of immense pain. The Alice teetered as it tried to shake off the blood of the warlord from its mouth, and the sanguine liquid spattered violently across the barrier.

It hissed like acid the moment it came in contact with Nobume's energy.

The beast swayed, clawing at its own mouth, drawing out more blood. Even in its desperate efforts, there still remained that unmistakeable mark,

the telltale sign of indelible blood,

the Blood of Ill Will.

Tendrils of darkness spread from the blood stain, the manifestation of a hundred forbidden curses engulfing the Alice's convulsing form. It fell like a tree, shaking the ground on impact. Sesshomaru ran his sword against his arm, staining his katana with the sanguine curse, and a sudden flux of dark and lightning exploded around him. The maelstrom of shadows and light consumed the very air around its wake as he struck.

The remaining Akuma horde lay limp on the ground.

Everything was finally still.

What was left of the abomination was an empty crater,

and a beautiful curtain of electrical sparks falling from where the Alice once stood.

 _Beautiful._

The girl was on her knees, the Warlord was standing before her. Just like the first time.

"What is your name?" came the question, the unanswered question she was not able to answer the night he found her by the lake. His bloodstained form stood ethereal under the delicate shower of light.

Cold Amber met Electric Blue.

"Kagome," she finally answered.

* * *

Summary: Again, just skip if you follow.

Akuma beasts attack the camp, and Kagome discovers an unusual ability. Sesshomaru shows just what the Blood of Ill Will is capable of. They meet again.

I understand that everything is confusing, keep in mind the main character is confused herself and cannot connect the circumstances yet. There will be explanations, about the flowers, and the weird weather, but it will only come as the story progresses.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** In an attempt to lay out the world they dwell in, I present to you the "boring geography chapter" =P

Ruwach- literally means spirit. In this fic this is a term for a spirit in the form of an animal, who aids in signifying presence or relaying messages.

Hierarchy- distribution, ranking

 **Disclaimer:** The names and settings used in this AU are purely for fictional purposes and do not aim to represent or resemble the real thing. =) And I don't own Inuyasha.

* * *

 ** _Shamayim and the Four Cardinal Virtues_**

* * *

The red-headed watcher sat at the edge of the cliff, sunset eyes fixated on the view laid out before him. Numerous dwellings, simple establishments. If it were not for the occasional white wings floating by from time to time, anyone would have thought it would be a human dwelling. But this was no human dwelling.

This was Shamayim, he thought. _Home._

Far different from the wasteland he recognized as home six hundred years ago, before she found him. In this place where it was perpetually spring, he found himself having more idle time than he had before.

Perhaps the passage of time had somehow stabilized the once uncertain ground?

 _Maybe that._ Then his heart ached as his memory recalled _her,_

ebony-black hair and poly chromatic eyes, smiling at him, so confident even under the duress of war.

 _And mostly because of her._ But she never took credit for anything. She would always attribute the stabilization of Shamayim to them, regard them proudly, and intentionally revert herself into the background.

He sat there quietly, playing with an amber-colored ribbon on his hands. It belonged to her, she had left it behind when she disappeared into the rift.

"Shippo," sought a familiar voice, and the red-head turned to the source. "I received your ruwach. What's up?"

"Ah, thanks for coming," A smile graced Shippo's features, "Inuyasha-sama."

* * *

"Of course I would come," Inuyasha huffed, settling himself on the grass and propped an arm behind his head. He stared at the cloudless blue sky. "Your fox was pestering me day and night. That ruwach of yours," he grimaced, "can sure be persistent."

"Eh, sorry about that." Shippo scratched the back of his head in modest embarrasment. "Anyway, I thought to seek you," he cast his eyes to back to the view, "because of her."

A companionable silence hung for moments in the air. "It's been thirty years since she disappeared." He continued. Shippo then turned to his quiet companion. Inuyasha's bored expression had not changed.

"So?" Inuyasha rearranged his arm to tilt his gaze to the redhead. He saw he was starting to get frustrated. Inuyasha sighed. "She did not send one of her ferrets yet, didn't she?"

Shippo merely nodded. Just like how his ruwach took the form of a fox, and his wife Rin's took the form of butterflies, hers was a ferret. Whenever she would be gone for longer periods of time, the whimsical little creature would come bounding in their direction every now and then, to indicate she was alright and thinking of them. But it had been _thirty years_.

"Give her a break," Inuyasha sat up. "You've been with her for such a time, you should know her responsibilities." He paused. "She might be in another dimension," he tried to explain, with the knowledge that he had been explaining this to them, countless of times.

"Who knows, three days there is equivalent to ten years here? Maybe three days have only passed there, wherever she is. Shippo, the possibilities are endless. She might even be in a domain with a different timeline."

Shippo anxiously fiddled the yellow ribbon on his hands. His thoughts wandered to the complicated domain structures.

When Elohim, the one Kami reigned supreme, he decided to create the world anew. Gone were the days of multiple deities. The old world ended, the new world emerged.

And whether he did it by purpose or not, the new world broke into different dimensions, each holding their own time frame and material structure.

They inhabited one such dimension. The dimension they were on consisted of three sub-domains: Shamayim (Heaven), Erets (Earth), and Sheoul (Hell).

Erets itself held so many mortal souls. There were the elemental fairy in a territory called Rune, the Youkai race in Niflheim, a fair mixture of human, fey and youkai in Midgard.

To watch over this mortal sub-domain was Shamayim, the land of the watchers, or _angels_. A hierarchy was established to draw clearer responsibilities for the watchers.

"I understand where you are coming from." Inuyasha smirked, "But that is the exact reason why you Virtues exist. She has enough on her shoulders, you brats just do your job. I will always be here, if you need an extra hand."

Shippo smiled at him apologetically and nodded. To watch over Shamayim itself was the Four Cardinal Virtues, angels handpicked by the steward, each gifted to uphold the ideal virtues.

Inuyasha was gifted the seat of Justice.

To Shippo and Kouga, since they were celestial twins, souls never to be separated, they were given Fortitude. Rin was gifted with Temperance. It was then that Inuyasha fell in love with a Faery priestess, and he gave up his gift to become her guardian angel.

The seat of Justice was given to a celestial named Sango.

Three virtues. The first seat, Prudence, was empty. And it had been empty since the hierarchy was established.

Perhaps she was waiting for something? Perhaps she had not found anyone suitable. Prudence, the first virtue, was after all the _charioteer_ , as it lead the other virtues.

"Thanks," Shippo blew out a breath of resolve. His little talk with Inuyasha had somewhat relieved his unrest. Instead of whining, he would take care of his responsibilities dutifully. He was entrusted with his position so confidently he cannot let her, and ultimately Kami, down.

"I miss her, though." Shippo admitted. "Sometimes I think I should just summon her."

"No!" Inuyasha shot up from his sprawl. "You only call her when it's absolutely necessary. You know how she hates being summoned for trivial reasons." A distant look then crossed Inuyasha's expression. "Who knows how many summons she has to endure all the time."

Then, "How about I summon you, squirt? Will you like that, huh?!" Inuyasha grinned vindictively. Shippo drew back, grimacing.

"N-no! Why the hell would you do that to me?" Shippo opposed. To be summoned was one of the most torturing experiences he had gone through. He shuddered at the feeling. "Okay. I won't summon her... As long as I can help it." He managed to add.

Inuyasha shifted and stood up, dusting himself off the grass. "So, are we done here? 'Coz Kikyo will eventually notice my absence-"

"Hai, thank you." Shippo nodded. He did not turn around when a flurry of white feathers was carried his way by the wind. Inuyasha had left.

As he stared at the peaceful view, he wondered what rift she had entered again. Rifts, odd little fissures in between dimensions, like cracks in walls. Oftentimes it acted as accidental portals. Some would lead to other territories, some even to another sub-domain. If the crack was deep enough, it would even lead to a whole different dimension.

Shippo held the yellow ribbon closer to his person.

"Okaa-san," he whispered, "wherever you are, I hope you are safe."

She would be, he reassured himself.

After all, even if her gift yoked her with such responsibility, it was the same gift that established who she was.

 _It was her gift that made her unlike any other._

* * *

 **A/N:** Summary:

Dimensions hold their own time frame and structure, they are a world in itself. The dimension they are in is divided into three sub-domains: Shamayim, Erets and Sheoul. Watching over the mortal domain(Erets) is the hierarchy of angels. Watching over the hierarchy itself are the four cardinal virtues. (three for now, the first seat has been empty.) Also, there is a hint that our protagonist holds a unique responsibility. **Gosh I hope I didn't confuse you more with the layout.**


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N:** *Italicized with star* -_ Kagome's Thoughts

" _Italicized Block "–_ Flashback (Miroku's Narration)

* * *

 _ **To Remember the Forgotten**_

* * *

"What do you sense with her?" Miroku stood beside the bandaged girl, who was seated before Sesshomaru, head hung down, like a virgin about to be sacrificed to the raging demon. The white warlord retained the stoic mask.

"I sense nothing." he answered. He gave Miroku a hard look. What was he trying to prove?

"Exactly!" Miroku exclaimed, utterly elated. Ayame, who was seated at a distance, fidgeted anxiously.

"Koi, keep your voice down." She reminded, and Miroku took a deep breath in an attempt to control himself.

"Exactly," Miroku whispered, his aura scanning around the tent. No one seemed to be eavesdropping. He was safe to talk.

"I don't exactly follow." Sesshomaru informed, impatience lacing his voice.

"Sesshomaru," he rolled his eyes as if the answer was lying naked in front of him. "You sense nothing. Even with your superior aura. If I close my eyes," he indeed closed his eyes, "I couldn't sense her _beside_ me." His eyes opened again and he cast his glance on the girl. "Somehow, her aura is cloaked. _Flawlessly_. And she has the ability to conceal others too. Ayame and I tested it earlier... up to four people!" He said in such a conspirational tone it made Kagome do a double take.

"Hn," Sesshomaru merely chuckled, unimpressed. "The onna can probably conceal auras, but not all enemies are blind like the Akuma," He stood up. "Nor do they walk around with eyes closed." he added.

Cold amber eyes regarded the clueless woman beside Miroku. Her eyes met his.

"Leave. Depredations have no place for a child such as you."

The tall warlord brushed past the bandaged girl and left the tent.

* * *

Miroku sank down to the floor beside Kagome, his shoulders slumped.

"He didn't even let me finish." Miroku sighed. The bandaged girl beside him finally moved.

"Miroku-sama... what was that about?" Kagome asked timidly. The Faery warlord gave a cryptic look to his lieutenant wife. Ayame, sensing his intentions, nodded her head and stood, exiting the tent to stand guard.

"I sense that I can trust you for two reasons," Miroku started. "You saved my wife. For that I am in your debt." Miroku inched closer. "And the other reason, I believe you are the only one who could help me pull off this plan that I have. Do you know the reason for this depredation, ojou-chan?"

Kagome strained to recall. "No, it is to be kept a secret." the girl hesitated, unsure if what she was getting into was even safe. Miroku did not even flinch.

"Our main target is to capture a Youkai princess in the village on the borders of Niflheim. She is rumored to be a pedigree and her blood is quality for breeding. The Elioud wishes to use her for some purpose..." Miroku noticed Kagome's sudden unease. "What is it that troubles you?"

"I just thought... that if the village was in Niflheim, why did we have to travel southbound in Asphodel, through uncharted territory? We could have just passed through Rune. There are established portals, _safer_ roads." Kagome meekly met his gaze. Miroku only smiled.

"You are more insightful than I thought." He chuckled proudly. "Do you remember when you were registered?" The girl nodded her head. Of course she remembered. Fumiko had threatened her with the rumors that people who disagreed to register were never seen again. "The registration process included a strong binding spell, ojou-chan. Whenever you step out of Asphodel, your tongue and mind is bound to secrecy."

Kagome struggled to connect what the warlord was saying. Thankfully, Miroku was patient.

"They bound your tongue and mind from expressing anything about the human clan. _Absolutely nobody outside Asphodel is to be aware of the Elioud's existence_. That is why we cannot pass through Rune. We might catch an outsider's attention."

"They are in hiding from the outside domain?" Kagome realized. Then came the inevitable question.

"Why?"

Miroku sighed. "Even though I am a warlord, I know nothing. The Elioud only keep that secret to themselves- only to those who hold the Blood of Ill Will."

"Then Sesshomaru-sama," she hesitated, "He has the Blood of Ill Will, he might-"

"The capturing of the princess will be easy." Miroku continued, ignoring Kagome's trail of thought. "I bet even my wife can do it alone. It is the journey through uncharted terrain that is most perilous. It required two warlords, Nobume and I were chosen. But hearing we had to travel southbound, I tried to convince Sesshomaru to come with us."

Miroku's lavender eyes visibly dimmed.

"Ojou-chan, there is a legend in Asphodel, that southbound, hidden in a rift is the Tree of Wisdom, Bokuseno. He is as old as Asphodel itself. He had witnessed the arrival of the Elioud, one hundred years ago. But it is not the knowledge of the Elioud's origins that compelled me to bring Sesshomaru along."

Miroku reached out to the girl's trembling hands.

"It is a powerful spell that retrieves even the deepest, most repressed memory,

the Scroll of Memory."

* * *

 _*Is that why you saved me?_

 _Is that why you comforted me with your warmth, the night we first met?_

 _I want to know what you are thinking,*_

Kagome burst out of the tent running, shamelessly wiping the tears streaking down her cheeks with the back of her hand. The rain in her mind tonight was heavy, but she did not care. She had to find him.

She _had_ to find him.

" _One hundred years ago, Asphodel was purely a youkai-fairy territory, until the arrival of a human clan. They called themselves the Elioud. They bound the minds and the tongues of our denizens, threatening to use the Blood of Ill Will against them should anyone oppose."_

Kagome halted by Sesshomaru's tent, rousing the sleeping guards. He was not inside. Biting back another wave of tears she bound away, desperate for the familiar vision of white her eyes so yearned for.

" _I was so young back then, but they found me capable, more than the others. The strongest they took in as warlords. Four of us, puppets of the Eliouds, theirs to control and command. It stayed that way for so long."_

Kagome had reached the edge of the campsite, under the heavy downpour in her mind. There he stood, ethereal under the rain, his amber gaze intense on the rain clouds in her mind. In his eyes, he probably saw a starry sky.

She slowly approached him.

" _Until fifty years ago, Sesshomaru was brought before me to be trained as a warlord. I was stunned at the amount of power he held. I found out he even possessed the Blood of Ill Will. But Sesshomaru was not even human like them. He was **different**. I knew it in my gut. I asked him then, who he was. And he had no answer."_

Kagome prostrated herself before the white warlord, hiding the sadness so freely flowing down her cheeks.

" _You see, ojou-chan, fifty years ago, a white inu was found in the lake by the borders of Asphodel and Rune. That inu had no recollection of his origins, of who he was, or where he came from. The only exception was his name. He could only remember his name. That inu's name was Sesshomaru."_

"Sesshomaru-sama, please,

give Miroku-sama's plan a chance. Just think of me as an expendable," she pleaded, breathing in the violet flowers that only she could see.

His amber eyes narrowed just a fraction, and he stared at her for a long moment. Kagome remained still, her resolve as strong as steel. Quietly, Miroku stepped beside Sesshomaru and tapped the tall warlord's shoulder. "We won't know if we try, don't we?"

" _The plan is to head out ourselves, only the four of us. We will tell them we shall be scouting the terrain for two weeks. No one else is to know the real reason or else we'll be in trouble with the Elioud. That is enough time for us to reach the borders of Niflheim. Ojou-san. Aside from cloaking, you have the unique ability to see the hidden, as you saw the Alice two nights ago. In our scouting we might find the rift where Bokuseno is tucked away." he chuckled. "If this ends in failure, we at least tried."_

Sesshomaru finally spoke.

"Shall you perish, onna, I will leave your corpse behind." He looked back to the sky.

"Cease your crying. You are such a bother."

Miroku broke into laughter. Kagome brought her head up and smiled, wiping away the display of pathetic tears. "Thank you, Sesshomaru-sama."

* _I want to know if you are angry, or frustrated, or lonely._

 _You are so much like me, yet completely different. How do you stay so strong?_

 _I want to know what you are thinking.*_

* * *

 **A/N:**

Summary: Miroku reveals the reason for the raid: to capture a youkai princess in the borders of Niflheim. He also reveals his other 'secret' plan. Kagome finds out that Sesshomaru is just like her, found by the lake with no memory aside from his name.


	10. Chapter 10: To See the Hidden

**A/N:** Guys, check out the cover art commission for Transcendency by Naz. It's so beautiful I cried! (T_T) Thank you sooo much! *sobbing as I melt to the ground* I never expected it to turn out so perfect! Take note of the amber-colored ribbon on Kagome's hand. *uhuhuuuu*

Onna- woman

Steppe- a large area of unforested grassland

Seppuku – the act of committing suicide to preserve one's honor

Nagajuban - Kimono-shaped inner robe underneath a kimono

* * *

 ** _To See the Hidden_**

* * *

"What do you see?"

Sesshomaru's voice, although cold and without emotion, sounded laced with a certain degree of concern. Kagome had been standing before the large steppe rooted in place for a considerable amount of time. They had been walking for two days now, and the sudden stop in momentum irked the warlord. It was about time that they moved.

"Onna."

Kagome's eyes darted from Sesshomaru, then to Miroku, then to Ayame.

She steadied herself. "What do _you_ see?" she asked, in a tone trying hard not to offend. She earned a sigh of frustration from Miroku, and Ayame muttering _"why so cryptic,"_ but Sesshomaru scanned the overview quietly, carefully deciding what to say next.

"Before us is a large steppe, it is empty and the grass growing only seems to be ankle-deep. I can see the other end." Sesshomaru tilted his head towards Kagome. Miroku stepped forward.

"This is the same steppe that seemed to swallow the first half of our cavalry whole. Same one that possibly triggered that Akuma ambush. Seeing the edge, it's a thirty-minute trek. Ojou-chan?"

Kagome stepped back, apprehension in her vermilion eyes. "Is there any way we could... fly over it?" she hesitated.

"Fly?" The corner of Ayame's mouth twitched up in humor. "Kagome-chan, why would you want to fly?"Ayame cast her glance again on the peaceful, empty valley before them, then back to their strange companion. She noticed the tight clutch she had against her yukata.

"It doesn't matter," The bandaged girl muttered, stepping back.

Electric blue eyes scanned the are before her in disbelief. _So they were seeing a valley_. Before her was a great depression carved on the earth, heavily carpeted with those endless violet flowers. Inside that hole was an _Akuma nest_. Integrated in an Akuma _Colony_.

Kagome thought hard on her next words. "There is danger." she winced at how dramatic it came out.

"Kagome-chan, you sound like that crazy old 'prophet' at the side of the mar-" Ayame felt a painful stab on the ribs- it was Kagome's elbow. She was glaring at her, Ayame glared back.

"There _was_ a way," Miroku cast a worried glance at Sesshomaru.

"Was?" Kagome countered.

Miroku nodded. "There was a way... we could fly, I mean. But we wont risk it." He stood back and supported his chin on his hand, in deep thought.

"I still can leap." Sesshomaru suddenly said. Without turning to them, "I can see the edge of the clearing. I still can leap to the edge."

"Sesshomaru, are you sure-" Miroku was cut short when he noticed amber eyes narrowed on him.

"We are wasting time standing here idly." Sesshomaru dismissed. "I shall transform."

Kagome watched stunned as the beautiful warlord undid his high ponytail, platinum white hair spilling like a cascade of snow in the sun, blinding her eyes temporarily. When her vision came to, her eyes flew wide and she was left slack jawed.

He was undoing his kimono. The armor and haori were the first items to go.

Kagome couldn't find the restraint to tear her eyes off the scene before her. His back muscles rippled beautifully as he slid his _nagajuban_ off, baring a well-structured, muscularly lean vision that left her throat dry.

She stared mesmerized when he started undoing the ties of his hakama. The garment slid down, hanging dangerously on the rise of his hips, threatening to fall off if he suddenly let go.

Kagome gulped at the sight of white curls staring to flourish as her eyes wandered lower.

Sesshomaru suddenly paused.

Amber eyes met blazing vermilion.

"I see you are enjoying the free show." his bored voice suddenly droned, snapping Kagome back to reality.

"Huh?" she answered dumbly, before she realized her state of blankness.

Turning to her other companions, she realized Miroku and Ayame had been standing with their backs turned away from the stripping male, they had been _respectful_ and gave him due _privacy_ he so very well deserved.

And she, on the other hand...

Kagome was thankful she was covered up in bandage or else everyone had seen she was as red as a fire tree. She didn't even bother to look back at the warlord and she melted to the grass in shame.

"Hn." She heard him chuckle as he let go of his last items of clothing and set it carefully aside.

As the girl sulked and wallowed in embarrassment, a weird sound distracted her, like a pop, and a _snapping,_ such as one breaks twigs for a fire. Kagome paused, her ears straining to decipher that unfamiliar sound.

It echoed again, and Kagome tilted her head towards the source. It seemed to be coming from Sesshomaru's direction. Her curiosity got the best of her and she turned around.

It really was him, much to her horror, and that popping and grinding was the sound of his bones _breaking and stretching_. His face contorted into a fanged grimace as his body was reconstructing itself.

He was morphing into the colossal white inu that saved her from the lake three years ago.

* * *

They stared at the towering inu before them, his snow-white fur bright under the day, great amber eyes peering down at them majestically. Kagome marveled at the beautiful creature before her. She was only as big as his paw. Eyes filled with child-like wonder she reached out to test the feel of the fur of his muzzle in her hands. The white inu pulled back haughtily.

"Oh," Kagome faltered, "sorry." Then, she inspected with concern. "Will you be alright, Sesshomaru-sama?" She recalled the grimace on his face and the sound of bones twisting and snapping. The prideful inu ignored the girl, his floppy ears twitching in reflex.

"He will be," Miroku answered on his behalf. "It is when he morphs back into human that he will need time to recover from the broken bones and abnormal stretch. But he heals faster than youkai."

With that the great inu bent his front legs down and tilted sideways, allowing them access to his back. Miroku assisted Ayame, holding his armor and clothes, climbed up, holding on to the white fur himself and with great ease heaved his person up. Miroku offered an assisting hand down to Kagome.

She took his hand. "We all ready?" Ayame inquired, and Kagome, steadying herself at the back of the inu, spoke.

"Wait," the bandage-covered girl closed her eyes, the group patiently waiting for her signal. She breathed out heavily, brows meeting in intense concentration. "I will be cloaking. I need all of you to come in contact with me."

Kagome felt Ayame's hand on her waist, and Miroku's bracing her arm.

"Sesshomaru-sama, forgive my intrusion of privacy," Kagome's vermilion eyes opened in apology, a hand hovering over his silky fur. Sesshomaru nodded as a signal to ahead, and the girl gently placed her hands on his fur, and pressed her body against him.

The moment Kagome came in contact with Sesshomaru, a curious warmth spread over her.

She was hearing the rhythm of his heart, loud and thunderous, beating against hers.

It took all her willpower not to fall into the lull of his life energy. "Alright," she finally said. "We are hidden." Kagome felt a gentle wind run against them, followed by a sudden burst. The great inu broke into a run, and she felt his muscles tense beneath her and he sprung into a great leap.

The white scarf concealing her hair came out flying away, unbound ebony strands exploding in a magnificent contrast against the inu's snow white hair.

The firmness of his muscles, the silken strands of his hair,

and the gentle, familiar stirring to her soul wrapped the girl in an overwhelming warmth as they leaped that great distance.

Kagome pressed closer to the white inu, not even bothering to open her eyes.

* * *

"Wow."

Ayame marveled at the landscape before them, at the vast stretch of barren land and sand dunes. "Just... wow."

"Asphodel never ceases to amaze me." Miroku commented as he held his wife's hand. "Sesshomaru, who would have thought there would be a desert in the middle of-" Miroku stilled as his eyes fell upon the amber-eyed warlord.

He was standing beside Kagome, watching her quietly with such intensity as she was obliviously studying the landscape before them.

"We are alright to proceed," Kagome ran her fingers through her now unbound ebony hair. "I don't sense anything anomalous," she scanned the terrain before her. It was nice to know that they were seeing a desert landscape. Kagome almost felt cheated as she only saw another vast field of violet flowers.

Sesshomaru's eyes followed her fingers as they sifted through her waist-length strands. Miroku's mouth threatened to curve upwards.

"Then what are we waiting for?" he tugged Ayame with him, Kagome and Sesshomaru following at a distance. Miroku thought the girl wanted to stay beside the warlord as he walked slower than usual, because of the broken bones.

"Why are you smiling?" Ayame whispered to the Faery warlord. Her husband only shook his head in negation, but he could never deny his wife. Using their bond, he spoke mentally to her.

 _'I think your strange little onna has captured our inu's attention.'_

* * *

"So," Ayame fiddled with her fingers as they were walking through the dry sand. "Tell us more about yourself." She gave Kagome a sidelong glance, the girl's unnatural poly chromatic eyes meeting hers.

"Eh, about me? Uhm..." Ayame saw the internal struggle she put the girl in. Ever since Miroku mentioned to her about Sesshomaru's curiosity she couldn't help but steal glances at her warlord, trying to catch little nuances to his usual reactions. And indeed, such was there.

His eyes flickered sideways to the petite girl, so subtly it would have gone unnoticed.

But not to Ayame. She had been his lieutenant for fifty years, and reading his slightest reactions were an essential to her job.

Plus she was his friend. But Ayame also considered herself _Kagome's_ friend. And there arose her conflicting emotions. She _knew_ Sesshomaru. The loyal, protective, perfect Sesshomaru.

She also knew the lust-driven, vindictive, _selfish_ Sesshomaru. At least the only thing not worrying her was the _un_ -heated secret gazes he was throwing at the girl. He was curious, which was something new.

"I... my brother owns an inn?" Kagome then smiled fondly at the thought of a fuming, flustered Fumiko if he heard her words. "I mean, _we_ own an inn. The name's _The Apple Tree_." she said with certainty.

"Oh, so you know how to cook?" Miroku perked up. "You should have said so! We've been striving on Ayame's drivel for days on e-" the fairy warlord dodged a sucker punch from his wife.

"I don't see any problem with Ayame's cooking," Kagome laughed. "But yes, I can cook."

Miroku grimaced. "No problem?! Maybe no problem for you-" he stopped further as Ayame gave him a glare that could command any soldier to commit seppuku. "I am just amazed at your tolerance, Ojou-chan. It's as if you can stomach anything. Even Sesshomaru wouldn't dare to eat those black wood-shavings Ayame calls rice."

"Anyway," Ayame rolled her eyes, steering the topic away from her cooking skills. "You own an inn. But the innkeeper is a fox youkai, as far as I recall. Does that make you a fox too?"

Kagome's glance then fell on the ground as they were walking. "I don' t know what I am." she said it so quietly that only the stoic warlord beside her had heard.

"Ah.," Ayame continued, unfazed by her lack of answer. Kagome turned to Ayame, smiling brightly as if the question did not even happen. "You grew up owning an inn? What else?"

What else, Kagome pondered. They knew her but did not. She had an obsessive, overprotective _fake_ brother that treated her as if she was a walking glass figurine? That his fox fiancee had the same obsessive tendencies towards her?

That what Miroku said was right, she had a stomach of steel: she can tolerate anything, edible or non-edible? (as evidenced by her eating that poisonous dish Fumiko had experimented on when he was creating the inn's menu, it put five of the servants into a season-long coma)

That she had a compellingly strong, unexplained aversion to rain?

That right now her mind interpreted the environment around her differently?

Kagome hesitated. Aside from her life after she fell into the lake, she had nothing she could talk about.

Someone suddenly grabbed her by the wrist. Surprised, Kagome looked up, only to be met by Sesshomaru's scrutinizing amber eyes.

"Where are your shoes?" he asked, his grip like an iron vice.

The group halted as their focus zeroed in towards the girl's feet. They realized it was bare and dirty.

"Ah," Kagome squirmed, uncomfortable at all eyes on her. "I lost it since the Akuma attack back at camp. We started with our trek immediately I didn't even realize I had nothing on my feet."

Ayame gaped. "You've been walking barefoot the whole time?"

"It's alright, the flowers are soft-" Kagome slapped a hand over her mouth, catching herself barely. Ayame's brow shot up in confusion.

"The what is _what_?"

The wind suddenly shifted direction, and the familiar whispering suddenly filled Kagome's senses. The flowers, this time, seemed to _move_. Her eyes darted overhead. Something big jutted from the hill before them, and Kagome realized it was not stationary.

 _It was burrowing_ _towards them._

Instinctively Kagome stepped back, alarming the rest of the group. The tunneling protrusion suddenly multiplied and became two, and as it neared, it started circling around them, breaking the earth with a spiny prominence that jutted out of the carpet of flowers.

"Uh, I guess I'm not the only one seeing this?" Kagome squeaked, leaning closer and closer to her companions as the circle wound tighter. They were against each other's backs now as the ground shook violently. She watched as they drew their swords in a protective stance.

"No," Ayame confirmed, but she pointed to the sky. "You're seeing it right, Kagome-chan. Harpies."

"Harpies?" Kagome quavered, and much to her dismay, aside from what was going on underneath them which seemed to go unnoticed , was a flock of half-woman, half-avian monsters swooping down towards them.

* * *

 **A/N:**

Summary: They are able to pass safely across the mysterious steppe. She finally sees Sesshomaru in his Inu form: his transformation is with painful consequences. She is also reacquainted with the warmth of his soul. Kagome's quirks: she has a stomach that can tolerate anything, she has an unexplained hatred towards rain, she gravitates towards Sesshomaru's warm soul, and she hates to be the center of attention. Sessh is starting to warm up towards her. They are attacked by Harpies.


	11. Chapter 11: Unbound

_**A/N:** Italicized block **-** _flashback

Hanbok – traditional Korean dress consisting of a short jacket ( _jeogori_ ) paired with a full skirt ( _chima_ )

Jeonmo – a korean hat made out of bamboo and cloth

Hime - princess

Please search the web for a clearer image if you are not familiar. They are really pretty! :)

* * *

 ** _Unbound_**

* * *

"We can handle this," Miroku started chanting, seeing Sesshomaru's slightly weakened state. "Ayame, watch my back."

The lieutenant nodded and disappeared to take care of the excess beasts.

The larger number of the harpies lunged towards the group just as Miroku's chant finished, and he slashed his bare fingers in the air. Gigantic spikes of ice tore from the ground, suspending the ridiculous amount of harpies in an ice prison, frozen in time. A hand on his katana, the fae warlord ran his finger on the blade.

His faery blood ran to the tip of the sword, and he allowed the sanguine liquid to soak on the earth. A beautiful swirl of white petals bloomed upward. Nonstop it scattered everywhere, the elegant petals cutting through the frozen fiends, but so soft against Kagome's skin.

It was so beautiful, and the amount of blossoms so massive it swallowed them like a blizzard. She failed to realize they were in a blinding storm of razor-sharp illusion.

"My lord!" A voice cut in,and as Kagome realized who it was, the lieutenant's lean figure was hovering a head above them as if she had just leapt.

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed as his eyes met hers. The lieutenant's expression was eerily hard and calculating. It suddenly dawned on him, her free hand was crossed over the bent arm that was holding her katana, as if it were supporting something very heavy.

Amidst the beautiful white blossoms, her fangs pierced the corner of her lip in intense concentration.

Sesshomaru reached over to Kagome and crushed her into his armored chest.

In an instant, Ayame's free hand twisted and morphed into an oversized cannon barrel twice her size. Light collected from the inside, her eyes narrowed and she pointed the barrel towards them.

Without hesitation she fired.

* * *

The blast was so loud it left Kagome's ears ringing. The flurry of white petals died down, revealing a harpie just inches away from where Kagome had been standing, although the body had already been macerated beyond recognition.

"Ayame." Sesshomaru signaled to his underling and she nodded in understanding. A screeching harpie flew dangerously close towards them. Ayame aimed skyward and released a barrage of explosions- such powerful discharges Kagome felt as if she would go deaf.

Sesshomaru suddenly grabbed Kagome by the waist and slung her over his shoulder, the girl dizzied as her world turned upside down. He sprinted towards a safer spot, away from the chaos, and with his beautiful katana he drew a perfect circle on the ground.

"Sesshomaru-sama," Kagome protested as he gently put her down.

"We are in a barrier," Sesshomaru consoled the panicking girl. Her eyes were darting around as she spun in circles, as if something was running around them. She clung to his kimono.

"Sesshomaru-sama," she begged this time, and something exploded from outside his barrier. Emerging from the sand was a gargantuan sand worm, baring its tunnel of dagger teeth, towering high above them.

The sand worm came crashing towards the barrier, leaving behind a cloud of dust at the explosive impact. The barrier proved solid, not a hair was out of place of the amber-eyed warlord. Ayame's shots fired far-range. A single shot blew away the monster's head, and the giant body fell like a tree.

Bits and pieces of gut and muscle rained over the barrier. Sesshomaru wiped off a chunk of eye vainly off his shoulder. The girl, however, remained abnormally restless.

"Sesshomaru-sama!" Kagome all but screamed again, and before the collected warlord could comprehend what could possibly happen, the ground shook from beneath them.

Kagome threw herself to the tall warlord, her arms flinging around his waist and wrapped him in a very tight embrace. The world suddenly tilted and they were swallowed in a flash of white.

* * *

The warlord regained his bearings, the sensation of bile pushing out from his throat. He opened his eyes, the world was still spinning and the nausea had not left. An equally dazed Kagome was beside him. "What happened?" she blurted out, and Sesshomaru scanned their location. They were at a distance _away_ from the newly-emerged sand worm.

Somehow, they materialized one hundred paces away from the fiend.

The sand worm disappeared underground, and Kagome once again clambered towards a kneeling Sesshomaru and wrapped her in her arms. The world spun again as the ground shook beneath them and once more, they found themselves a hundred paces away from the yoma.

"It's too fast!" Kagome could hear Ayame's voice despite the severe nausea. "Lure 'em closer!"

Sesshomaru inched closer to Kagome. "You did well in keeping us alive." He acknowledged, and the bandaged girl nodded. "However we now know that it is following us. Do not teleport. I shall strike when it emerges beneath."

Kagome braced herself as the towering warlord once again curled his hand around her waist. As expected, the ground shook and in an explosion of sand, the monster emerged. Sesshomaru leapt carrying the girl with him, taking out his katana and struck, his maelstrom of lightning and tendrils of darkness intertwining and beheaded the worm in one swift strike.

* * *

The desert landscape was coming to an end. The odd terrain of Asphodel continued to leave Miroku speechless- at the edge was a flowing stream, and heavy foliage and tall trees. The cool green hue was a relief from the sight of dry sand dunes.

He stole a glance towards the bandaged girl. She trudged along tirelessly, in par with their trained endurance. Miroku chuckled at her resolve of steel.

He recalled her feat earlier. The girl was able to create domain gateways at will in such short notice. It normally took days, even weeks to establish portals, _even_ in a span of a hundred paces. _And_ one must have been physically present to that specific place to tie your life energy to create the exit gateway.

"I see a stream overhead" Ayame leaned on Miroku's shoulder. "Perhaps we should rest now? The sun is setting."

"It's probably safer if we cross that stream first." Kagome sighed, her throbbing head finally subsiding. The girl stopped, hearing no response from her normally responsive companions. She spun around, only to see them startled.

Even Sesshomaru was visibly taken aback.

"W-what now?" Kagome faltered, and her attention focused on the stream before her. Standing by the water was the most beautiful young woman, pale skin looking fragile against the stark milieu, inky black hair sifted by the soft breeze. She was clad in a flowing white _hanbok,_ her red belt wound tightly emphasizing her tiny waist, and on her hands was a delicate, lace-veiled _jeonmo._

She looked like a _hime_ _bride_. She smiled at them so sweetly and held out her hands in a gesture to come closer.

Kagome looked back at her companions. The gesture apparently did the exact opposite to them, and the girl's confused mind tried to process _why_. Was the hime a dangerous youkai? She could not recall seeing her on Kaede's book. When she turned back, the hime bride started _stripping_.

Kagome stood there floored.

Carefully folding her silken garments under her jeonmo, the naked princess set them aside on the ground and walked towards them. Kagome was too stupefied to even react. She heard a scuffle from behind her. Sharply she turned around and realized to her disbelief: her companions high-tailed away, leaving her alone.

She opened her mouth to speak when a most unwelcome belching sound filled her ears, and she looked up as she was suddenly shadowed by a damp darkness. Kagome realized the hime bride was morphing into a gigantic, muscular _earthworm_.

That was all she saw before she was literally swallowed whole by darkness.

* * *

"I hate you guys," Ayame winced as an intact, breathing, slime-covered Kagome tumbled out of the dead worm's stomach. "Tch. Letting a woman like me do the dirty work," she mumbled, pulling Kagome up to stand. The girl wobbled, bracing herself in the lieutenant's strong arms.

Vermilion eyes opened, absolutely homicidal in intent.

"What was _that_?" Kagome absolutely glared daggers. She spanned her arms out, thick, brown slime dripping from her entire body, landing with an audible _slosh_ on the ground. "What is _this_?" her glare demanded an answer.

Miroku's face was planted on the ground, doubling over with laughter. Kagome chuckled dryly at his mirth. "Shut up, you traitor." Kagome's inner Fumiko jumped out. "You high-tailed away leaving a defenseless girl alone to be devoured by a giant... worm."

At that, Miroku broke into an even more hysterical laughter. He was trying to say something but he was drowning in a sea of humor he found impossible to escape.

"Ayame?" she asked supplicatingly, the lieutenant had disappeared by the stream, washing her hands from the thick slime that stuck to her when she was retrieving her.

"That was a worm youkai." Sesshomaru provided gracefully. "Nothing to fret over, onna. Nothing dangerous or deadly. It lures its prey and swallows it whole, attempting to digest its food slowly with the mucus on its hollow body."

Kagome's brow twitched in disgust.

"One could easily rip its way our from the inside should you wish to escape."

Sesshomaru's restrained smirk was not helping at all. The slime and the feel of the worm's serrated muscles pressing on her crawled on her skin more than anything, and the nausea came back full force, although for a different reason. "Well, someone could have at least _warned me_!?" She folded her hands in front of her, and realized it was a bad idea as the drying slime only stuck her hands together like glue.

Kagome gasped in horror. She had to pry her hands away from each other.

"How could you not know?" Miroku breathed in between laughs.

"How _would_ I know?" Kagome cast her glance at the darkening sky. Wiping the slime away from the palm of her hand she walked towards the worm-hime's discarded clothing and bent down to pick it up. Thankfully, the slime had not transferred.

Kagome turned to her male companions. "Don't even dare do anything funny." she threatened. "I won't be long." Kagome stomped towards the stream.

* * *

"See? It's sunset. _Sunset_." Miroku complained as he cast his glance up the gold-tinted dusk. "Tsk. _Women_."

Sesshomaru only answered with an audible "Hn."

The crushing of leaves had only announced the ladies' arrival, and both of them turned towards the source. Ayame rushed to her husband and tackled him with a hug, Miroku greatly pleased at Ayame's groomed state.

Another figure emerged, clad in the flowing red and white _hanbok_ , the curtain of lace on her _jeonmo_ concealing her face.

Kagome.

"I had to discard the bandages," she said from behind the veil as she walked towards Sesshomaru. She stopped right in front of him, looking up at his much taller form. "None of them were salvageable."

A long moment of silence embraced them both.

As the golden hue of the sunset was slowly fading into the starry sky, Sesshomaru's hesitant hand reached out gingerly into to curtain of lace. His fingers blindly came in contact with the smooth skin of her cheek, running it to the side of her jaw,tracing the outline of her face.

 _So she had healed_ , was his first thought as he pressed the palm of his hand gently against her smooth skin, and she unconsciously rested herself against his hand as her head tilted sideways in inquiry. "Sesshomaru-sama, is everything alright?"

Slowly, his other hand lifted the veil over her jeonmo, revealing her un-bandaged face.

She was painfully beautiful.

And her electric blue eyes were shining in concern for him. All this time, always for him.

"Sesshomaru-sama?"

"Onna." Was all he said, before Ayame tugged Kagome away.

"We better settle at the other side for the night, just as Ojou-chan suggested." Miroku hastened.

They quietly trudged along, under the beautiful starry sky for the three, and under the start of a light drizzle for Kagome.

She was thankful she had the jeonmo on. But somehow, the rain did not seem as bothersome to her as it was before.

* * *

** ** _Shamayim_** **

Sango held the yellow ribbon carefully in her hands. She smiled at the measures she had to go through just to steal it from Shippo, until he finally gave in. She had to, though.

She knew she could keep it safer than he would. And Shippo realized that too, that was why he gave it up with childish tears.

She would protect it as if it were her own soul, knowing the symbolism it held for _her_.

Kouga had told her about that wistful look on Kagome's face before she disappeared into the rift, when they had one of those rare conversations about being eternally bound. Although Kagome did not ask so bluntly as she did with Kouga, _"What does it feel like to be in love?"_ Sango had encountered a similar event, although more intimate and less casual.

It happened during a rainy afternoon in a quaint little town in Rune, when Kagome accompanied her to a mission. They were stuck beneath the shelter of an abandoned shop. While she was grumbling at how the rain could delay their visit, her poly-chromatic eyed companion just smiled and suggested they wait out the rain.

She could recall her nonchalant smile as she reached out and caught the raindrops in her hand.

 _Sango listened to the gentle hum of the rain hitting the ground. Her companion was smiling, always that calm, knowing smile that she at first thought frustrating, but now she had grown to love._

" _How do you do it?" Sango finally asked. She had been itching to have that certain question answered ever since she met her. "How do you always seem so unaffected?"_

" _I have nothing to fear," she answered, electric blue eyes never leaving her cupped hand. "I have Elohim's promise, and his directions, to guide me. That is why you pillars should also stop worrying. Allow me to lead you, as I have done so for hundreds of years."_

 _Sango nodded. "But still, Kagome... how do you do it-"_

" _That is a trade secret, Sango." She withdrew her hand from the rain. "Perhaps because... I am one of a kind?" she teased, earning a snort from Sango beside her._

" _Oh?" Sango mocked playfully. "Truly?"_

" _Truly. You're not gonna find anyone... or anything else like me." her companion proclaimed smugly._

 _They waited more in silence as the rain fell heavier into a full downpour._

 _Suddenly,_

" _Rain..." she heard Kagome's voice change tone. It was different from the casual, low-tension tone she usually held. Sango suddenly realized... was it..._

 _sadness?_

 _Sango closed her eyes, listening to Kagome's voice against the steady hum of the rain._

" _From where I came from, Sango-dono, it never ceased._

 _Dark, gloomy..._

 _empty._

 _That is why... for the longest time, I hated rain."_

 _Sango's consciousness was transported to a lonely place_

 _where the sun could never meet the ground, to a place where her friend's perpetual smile did not exist,_

 _where she stood alone, in the darkness so undeserving of the intense light of her soul._

" _But you see, Sango-dono, it was raining when I met him..._

 _and just the thought of him makes me so happy,_

 _even on rainy days."_

 _Sango's breath caught at the longing in her friend's voice. Rarely had she displayed any affection like this, for all the five hundred years she knew her. She reached out and engulfed Kagome's small frame in a tight embrace._

" _Eh?" Kagome's amused tone reached her ears. Sango reached out to the amber ribbon wound on her hair, always on her hair. "Did he give you this?"_

 _Kagome shook her head. "Only a reminder. Amber was the color of the window of his soul. I made a promise, Sango-dono, the first time we met. And I have been trying so hard to keep that promise." Kagome then pulled away._

 _Sango cupped her face with the palm of her hand. "I'm sure you are," much to her heartbreak, tears were streaking down her friend's cheeks._

 _Their strong, impenetrable fortress was crying._

" _I'm sure you are." Sango repeated, as she wiped way her friend's tears, unaware of her own sorrow blatantly running down her own cheeks._

" _It all started with that promise, Sango-dono._

 _It all started from there."_

 _The rain faded into a light drizzle, and as the sun peeked from the dark rainclouds, Kagome's perpetual bright smile bloomed. "It ceased," she pointed out to the rain. "Ah, stop crying, little one. You are making me feel guilty."_

The ribbon dissolved in a subtle display of lights, Sango tucking it away for safekeeping. She would be summoning Kagome pretty soon.

Selfish they were, she did not care anymore. It was killing her, not knowing if she was alright, worried that she had forgotten them and finally decided to make another dimension her home. It was her fault, anyway,Sango justified. Kagome was one poor correspondent.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_

Summary: Skip if you don need.

Back in Shamayim, Sango recalls her conversation with Kagome. She comes from a place where it perpetually rained, and the amber ribbon held a significant importance to Kagome. She tucks it away for safety. Harpies and Sand Worms attack the group. Sesshomaru, needing to recover from his transformation, leaves the fighting to Miroku and Ayame. Kagome displays another unusual ability. In the end, she is swallowed whole by a giant earthworm. Covered in slime she finally ditches the bandages.

Sesshomaru finds out she had healed, and he finally sees _her_.


	12. Chapter 12: Sanctuary Among the Stars

_**A/N:**_

One of the few, if not only, chapter solely on Sesshomaru's emotional perspective.

This will be a very short chapter... :)

* _italicized_ _text_ *- sesshomaru's thoughts

* * *

 _ **Sanctuary Among the Stars**_

* * *

* _Why did your soul call out to me_

 _the night we first met?_

 _In that dark night, why was I drawn into the window of your soul?_

 _I want to know what you are thinking...*_

Sesshomaru observed the quiet woman walking beside him, ebony black hair soft against the moonlight. Her electric blue eyes shone through the dim of the starry sky, and he let out a breath he did not realize he had been holding.

Her steps were unsure, her eyes hesitant as they scanned the terrain before them. But when she caught his eyes intent on hers, she smiled. Sesshomaru did not look away.

* _You are..._

 _strange._ *

Whenever she looked at him, it was as if he was the only thing certain in this bizarre, daunting world.

Whenever she said his name, it was as if she had said it since the beginning of time.

Whenever she held on to him, it was as if she would never let go.

Her devotion to him was frightening, and it resonated deeply into his soul, stirring something within, an aching from his spirit, a familiar yearning that he never knew existed until now.

They had halted.

"Beautiful," Ayame said breathlessly.

Before them was a deep lake, the other end unseen, and rising from the tranquil, mirror-like water were fireflies, thousands of fireflies lighting up the darkness. In the middle of the great lake was a solitary fire tree, as red as the strange onna's eyes whenever bright light would reflect on it. Sesshomaru turned to the onna but did not find her beside him.

She was walking ahead of them, oblivious to the great body of water. Kagome stepped into the surreal vision without any warning.

To their amazement, she was walking on the surface- gentle ripples against the mirror of stars following her wake.

She then stopped and turned around, in the middle of the rising fireflies, hovering above the tranquil water that beautifully reflected the starry sky above them. Kagome held out her hand.

"Why do you stop?" she asked quietly, leaving her companions at loss for words. Her hand remained outstretched, and she looked at them, _looked_ at them one by one, as if she was waiting... waiting for something.

After a long silence, it was Sesshomaru who took her hand.

She tugged him forward and he joined her in the magical backdrop. They walked quietly, fingers intertwined with each other, afraid to disturb each other's thoughts. Ayame shot past them, laughing carefree and playfully as she was being chased by Miroku, a gentle splashing of water audible as her feet ran lightly from the game.

"Kagome-chan, this is beautiful!" She laughed, "It's like we're walking among the stars..." Ayame started spanning her arms and spinning around in circles.

"We are?" the girl smiled emptily as she looked around her, a veiled sadness in her eyes. She cast her glance and saw the lieutenant's elated expression. The empty smile bloomed into a genuine one.

Miroku caught Ayame just as she felt dizzy, and after another bout of laughter, they ran ahead. "Who gets to the fire tree first wins!" Miroku declared, and the two disappeared as they started their game.

Kagome's laughter resonated in the quiet.

"You puzzle me." Sesshomaru tilted his head in genuine curiosity, and Kagome, still holding his hand, stopped walking.

" _You_ are strange yourself, Sesshomaru-sama." There it was again, the way she looked at him. The way she said his name. The way she held his hand.

And he found out, at that moment, it was not that he could not look away. He did not want to.

"Strange... and beautiful," Her eyes studied his face with innocent curiosity, his silken hair against the little golden lights above, below and around them.

* _So beautiful...*_

Sesshomaru's thoughts echoed, engrossed at her eyes that changed color, at the pale of her skin underneath the moon and stars and thousands of fireflies, at the tingling of his fingers at the memory of her smooth skin when he touched her small face,

"And Sesshomaru-sama..." she smiled genuinely, the palm of her hand pressing harder, holding him tighter, "you are... warm,"

* _I wonder... if you are, too...*_

"What do you see?" He suddenly asked, and Kagome, caught off guard by the question, withdrew her hand, stepping back with wide eyes as she stared at the warlord before her. " I am aware that like me, you still have no recollection of your past. What goes in your mind?"

She stood there, the stars frozen on her feet, fireflies suspended in time. She looked like a little child, lost in the woods with no one to rescue her, the strong connection between their eyes her only anchor to the world around them.

"Are you questioning your perception to reality?

Are you doubting yourself? Onna, are you afraid... that no one will believe you?"

* _Onna, what are you thinking?_ *

"Tell us. If you doubt what you see in front of you, tell us. You have proven your credibility... your perception is as valuable as ours." He watched in fascination as the woman's electric blue eyes plunged into a deeper color, the windows of her soul opening up, revealing vulnerability, and frustration, and a mixture of emotions he could not decipher. Tears were welling up at the corners of her eyes.

Kagome turned away from Sesshomaru, unable to supress her emotions. She buried her face in the palms of her hands and bit her lip, trying so very hard not to cry, but she did, anyway. She truly appreciated them, the people who took care of her, and she will treasure them in her heart forever, but it had been three years. Three years of negation. And frustration, and self-loathing at her twisted, abnormal perception. Three years of sympathetic smiles whenever she would mention the flowers, earning her the notorious nickname 'flower girl' by the town, three years of the humor in regards to her catching 'imaginary' raindrops, of secret glances at her odd behaviors and her 'useless' umbrella. She had companions, but essentially, she was alone.

Alone in a strange, frightening, horrible nightmare she knew she could never wake up from.

And with no who had truly listened.

"Onna, if there will come a time when Ayame or Miroku will doubt you, keep this in memory, I will never negate you. Whatever you say, no matter how outrageous or subtle it is, _I will believe you_."

Years upon years of bottled up tears flowed unrestrained. She wiped the tears at the back of her hand like a child. Sesshomaru's firm hand reached out and settled on her shoulder. Turning around, she slowly leaned towards him and cried her frustration out, her hands clutching the sleeve of his kimono, her tears running down the hard surface of his armor.

Sesshomaru gathered her in his arms, wrapping her with the warmth he comforted her the night they first met. Kagome smiled despite herself, she clung to the overwhelming warmth that he was always associated with, clung to it as if it were her lifeline.

She was not truly alone anymore.

 _*You are strange,_

 _and beautiful,_

 _and yes... you are warm...*_

He tightened his embrace, pressing her against him, reveling in the scent of her hair and the feel of her soft body, the newfound ache in his soul surfacing from deep inside.

 _*I am like a hapless moth, drawn to the flame of your warmth..._

 _why is it that I gravitate to you?_

 _Onna, is the warmth that you speak of, the same warmth that I feel?*_

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_

 **Summary:** The two are beginning to see each other under a different light.

Next chapter: _The Tree of Wisdom, The Flowers of Illusion._


	13. Chapter 13: The Tree of Wisdom

**_A/N:_** Umm... hello again? :) This will be a detailed read.

Jotunheim- land of the giants, an entirely different dimension outside the current one our characters are residing in.

Disclaimer: I do not aim to represent in any accuracy any names or places used. These are used solely for fictional purposes only.

* * *

 _ **The Tree of Wisdom, The Flowers of Illusion**_

 _(Bokuseno and Asphodelus)_

* * *

"We are sitting under an ancient fire tree, in the middle of a great lake." Miroku started as Ayame leaned on him, a content smile on the wolf youkai's lips. "We are surrounded by thousands of fireflies, the night sky is clear and abundant with stars." He allowed himself to lean against the old tree.

Kagome held her hand out, catching the falling leaves that were gently raining down on them. She had laid herself under the fire tree's shade, her black hair fanned on the grass, long enough for the ebony strands to reach by Sesshomaru.

The stoic warlord observed her and her odd attachment. She laid close by his feet, like a loyal puppy guarding her human.

"We are sitting under an ancient fire tree," Kagome confirmed, "but the night sky is riddled with rain clouds, and we are surrounded by yet another span of violet flowers."

"Flowers?" Ayame echoed, scanning the perimeter around her.

"Yes, flowers." Kagome answered, preoccupied with catching the falling leaves, and something else unseen. "In my eyes, Asphodel is a vast field of violet flowers. During night time, there is rain. Either a downpour or a light drizzle... and during daytime, an inferno. Anywhere the violet flowers do not touch, the ground consumes with fire."

"Kagome-chan..." the wolf youkai murmured, "is that what you've been seeing all this time?" Kagome could hear the worry laced in her voice. The ebony-haired girl smiled bitterly. She was about to apologize for her mental abnormality when a soft hum of energy met her ears. Before she knew it, a physical barrier appeared above them, arching into a dome that kept them protected from the rain. She tilted her head towards her lieutenant friend.

"There." The lieutenant boasted with a fanged smile. "Hey, I feel less damp myself!" She gave Kagome a cheeky wink and settled herself on Miroku's lap, closing her eyes as sleep started to claim them.

In the dim of the night, Kagome couldn't help but smile.

"The fire," Sesshomaru's baritone startled her elated thoughts. "You said at daytime, the ground consumes everything with fire?"

Kagome sat up and faced the troubled warlord. "Yes."

"I have had dreams," he closed his eyes, leaning on the further side of the big tree. "since my first night in Asphodel. I dream of waking up to a blazing inferno." To say it was a dream was an understatement. It was more like a nightmare, every night, with no fail. It had hindered him from sleep countless of times. But ever since the onna had slept close by him, he found himself falling asleep and waking up uneventful. In all his fifty years of consciousness, these past three days had been dreamless, restful nights.

He allowed the lull of her warmth wrap his own energy.

"You dream of the fires?" Kagome coaxed, leaning closer to him. His eyes were closed, his breath steady, and he did not stir. She smiled softly, he was asleep.

"We are almost at the borders of Niflheim," she whispered to no one in particular. "Where are you? Bokuseno, please, reveal yourself..." As Kagome slowly drifted away to sleep, she did not notice the faint shimmer of light that appeared by the edge of their little island.

That certain shimmer ripped into a small fissure, and it stayed, waiting.

* * *

Kagome awoke at the early hours of dawn, when the rainclouds were clearing and she really could see a starry sky peeking from behind. It was still dark, that was why it was not hard for a small shimmer of light to catch her attention. It was slowly disappearing, and Kagome shot up and bound closer.

"Sesshomaru-sama," she called out from the edge of the island, but he looked so peaceful asleep. Could she just go ahead and check the rift? She then recalled their conversation last night. "Sesshomaru-sama," she repeated, a tone of urgency in her voice. "Miroku-sama! Ayame,"

Kagome grew desperate. The fissure of light was getting smaller and smaller. Instinctively she reached out to catch it, but she was sucked into the crack yet again, her hanbok-clad self disappearing in the darkness as if she had never existed.

* * *

"You summoned me?"

Kagome found herself in the middle of a clearing, free of violet flowers aside from the border, before a giant magnolia tree with a hardened face and a gentle smile. She heard a whispering again, this time it was of one individual voice, and it seemed distant. Although the language was all mixed up, she was able to make sense of it.

 _'Bokusen-o.'_

"You answered," Kagome exclaimed breathlessly as she knelt on the grass. Bokuseno's massive branches reached out towering towards the receding moon and stars, stretching as if he had woken from a century-old slumber.

"I heard your call."

Kagome's heart felt as if it ran a hundred paces faster. This was it, their week-long journey almost concluded. "Do you know me?" She tried. The tree only smiled, humored.

"You are pushing your luck. I know a lot of things, but I don't know _everything_." Bokuseno gave a deep chuckle, its leaves raining down on Kagome like a gentle drizzle. Kagome looked around and it dawned on her,

there was no rain,

not even the kindling of fire that she usually saw in accompany with twilight.

Perhaps it was the absence of the flowers?

The wise tree shifted its branches. "We are in a rift within a rift, as you can see, Asphodel's territory ends in the border." He chuckled.

"What is Asphodel?" The girl finally asked.

"Asphodel is a dimensional rift between Rune and Niflheim-" the wise tree answered.

"No, _what_ is Asphodel?" Kagome turned to the carpet of violet flowers behind her, bending to the will of the wind. "the flowers..."

"Ah, so you can see her? I am surprised, little onna, that you can figure through her wiles. I can see her too, only because of the wisdom my age has granted me. Her flowers render the strongest illusions that could fool the most formidable creatures in our own dimension."

Kagome felt as if something was caught in her throat. "You mean to say, that what I see, the endless flowers, the fires at day, the rain at night... is the real terrain? and what everyone else is seeing is an illusion?"

"Yes. Asphodelus is a powerful entity from Jotunheim, brought in by a traveler two thousand years ago for reasons beyond my knowledge. From her core she is protecting something, what it is I do not know, nor can I ever find out. She is from another dimension, the _Jotun_ speaks in a different language. But she speaks to you. I can see it by the way you looked at her flowers when you came in, she probably told you who I was."

Kagome pondered quietly at all that has passed. That single, individual voice that she could decipher from the hundreds of voices that whisper to her in times of duress was the voice of Asphodelus. "I listen to her because I can hear," she whispered.

"You hear her because you understand." Kagome was left pondering in silence. The great magnolia tree gifted her with a flower, catching her attention.

"When you called for me, you also spoke in a language, my language, that I thought had been dead for a thousand years. You even saw my rift...

That is why I had to meet you. It's as if you are not bound to the limits of Erets and Niflheim. Even the watchers of Shamayim are limited to the language of this dimension. But you, " he smiled gently. "You are unlike any other I have encountered."

Kagome shook her head. What the tree of wisdom said had revealed a lot of things about her, yet at the same time it had revealed nothing. Her thoughts wandered to her companions. Will they even accept what Bokuseno had said about Asphodelus and her illusions?

She lifted her gaze beyond the shelter of the ancient magnolia's canopy. The stars were fading, and light had cracked on the twilight sky. Pretty soon her companions will awaken, and find her missing. She had to haste.

"Who are the Elioud?" she recalled the heavy aura that washed over her during the parade. "Why are they hiding from the outside domain?"

"Let me tell you a little story. When Elohim, the one kami had redesigned the world, he had to find a place to dispose of the multiple deities that were threatening his superiority. So he created the Dark Void- a dimension where time and place did not exist."

Kagome felt a chill from the twilight breeze and she had to embrace herself to keep warm. A dimension where time and place did not exist?

That must have been...

 _lonely._

"Now to attain balance, he created monstrous entities known as _Gluttons_ to inhabit the forsaken place. Their blood was tied to the Dark Void itself, and they were equipped with immense power and an insatiable appetite, to fulfill their sole purpose- devour the ancient youkai, the powerful titans, even the Old Gods that were thrown into the Void.. Once it was done, Elohim could rest and say that the old world had finally been cleansed, and can draw a clean slate for the new."

"What does that have to do with the Elioud?" Kagome fidgeted, restless.

"Patience, little Onna. I am starting from the beginning so you can fully understand. Everything I say is connected to what I will reveal." Bokuseno paused.

"Those ancient beasts fulfilled what they were created for. Having nothing to devour in the void, they started to eat each other, until only one was left, alone, fated to slowly whither off in its own terrible hunger. That is where the Elioud comes in."

Bokuseno shivered in his own trail of thought. "The Elioud was a wicked human clan, proficient in arcane magic and the forbidden arts. One of their most powerful ancestors, a priestess, was able to somehow steal a vial of the last _Glutton's_ blood, and the entire clan congregated on the entity's ties to the void.

They experimented on it, to the point of fusing a part of the stolen blood to their priestesses in hopes of gaining the same power the _Glutton_ had possessed.

It had no effects to their females, but to their offspring was a terrible mutation: their sons possessed indelible blood that when spattered, inflicts the victim with a hundred forbidden curses. That was how the Blood of Ill Will was formed.

They called the women who gave birth to such abominations _Matriarchs_ , and they procreated, leading to the rise of their terrible reign.

But Elohim sees everything. And when he found out, he willed their wicked race to extinction. He ordered Michiel, the commander of the Hierarchy of Shamayim, to pass judgement on them. The commander, though, was lenient: to the Matriarchs, the watcher stripped them from their abnormal blood union to the Dark Void, disabling any procreation.

To the Nobles, a warning: to never use the Blood of Ill Will else they shall be wiped off the face of this dimension with a strike of its sword.

Because such time has passed, and considering the human lifespan, Little Onna, I believe that the Elioud race had slowly died off, and such a clan remains alive only as a legend."

 _But they are alive,_ Kagome thought in horror. Somehow they are thriving- _a wicked race damned to extinction was defying Kami's will._

A realization suddenly struck the girl. Sesshomaru-sama... he was not human, and had only came fifty years ago.

And the Elioud... they were supposed to cease in existence by now, but somehow, they were surpassing their human life spans.

 _could it be?_

"Bokuseno," Kagome stood up, an urgency like never before in the tone of her voice, "do you know where the Scroll of Memory is?"

She needed to find it. She _had_ to.

It would be his only chance.

"It is kept close to the heart of Asphodel herself. You can find her directly in the bottom of the abyss that leads to the portal towards Niflheim. " He revealed, not-so-cryptically to Kagome. "But please, do not reveal to anyone where her heart is. She will not appreciate it.

I surmise she is eager to see you, I can see it as her flowers dance in anticipation with the wind."

His branches lurched forward, showering her with white magnolia blossoms, filling her senses with his happiness. "It has been a long time since I have conversed in my language. Ah, I feel nostalgic. Thank you for such an opportunity."

Kagome bowed in return. "No, the pleasure is all mine."

* * *

When she told them about everything that the wise tree said, Sesshomaru remained uncharacteristically silent, not even stopping to comment or ask about any more details.

About Asphodel and her illusions,

about the Elioud and their condemnation, and why they were hiding from the world.

After all was relayed, he quietly withdrew to himself, and they walked further more southbound without any more conversation.

The sinking feeling in Kagome's soul that started on her realization back at Bokuseno's rift had only gotten heavier with each step they took. It was when she tugged at the sleeve of the Inu Warlord's kimono that he finally halted.

They had been walking nonstop for three days.

"Sesshomaru-sama," she peered in concern. He was avoiding her gaze, the warmth in his eyes was completely masked.

He was wearing that cold exterior the day she saw him in the parade.

"We shall head straight to the portal that leads to Niflheim and retrieve the Youkai Hime." he commanded, and withdrew from her grasp.

"What about the scroll?" She grabbed him again in frustration, pulling like a little girl refusing to give in to her elders.

"What use is it now," He answered with the same collected detachment he was always associated with. "If I remember, where will it lead me? It will not change anything."

She let go when his amber eyes flashed with a violent fire she had never seen before. As she watched his receding form, her resolve only strengthened.

It may not change a thing,

but at least he will have something to hold on to.

* * *

"Is this it?" Ayame concluded, breathless, as she stood before the immeasurable distance between them and the portal to Niflheim.

Unlike the steppe where they could see the other end, the expanse between the cliff and the other side was too far for even a giant Inu could leap to. Ayame stared at the impossible blue sky.

"Kagome-chan, tell me this is all an illusion, and we could actually walk through the air to reach the other side."

"No," Kagome inched closer to the edge, a wonder to her voice. "We are seeing the same thing," she leaned forward, and her throat leapt at the sight of the immeasurable drop below. A squall suddenly blew, catching the ridiculous amount of cloth in her hanbok and pushed her forward, almost knocking her off the cliff.

Had it not been for the strong grip of Sesshomaru on her arm she would have fallen.

He glared at her recklessness. "Sometimes I wonder if you will be the cause of our demise." Sesshomaru scolded, but the girl was looking at him with wide eyes, as if she were to figuratively step off a cliff.

"Do you trust me?" She vaguely asked, and her question took even her other companions' attentions. He released her hand.

"Why are you asking, Onna?" his eyes narrowed.

Kagome remembered Bokuseno's favor, to not reveal Asphodelus' heart. "Do you trust me?" she asked again, the question not directed to the Inu Warlord alone but to the rest of her companions.

"Yes." came the decisive answer, and that was all Kagome needed.

"Then wait for me. I won't be long." She promised, and before they could even comprehend her displaced question and even more askew answer,

with two large strides her feet left the security of the ground and she _leapt off_ the cliff,

plunging herself into the abyss, a ruffle of cloth and silk tailing on her wake.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ Okay, so that was a mouthful of dialogue with the tree. Haha.

She finds Bokuseno, and he points out to her she is, in a way, not bound to the limits of their current dimension, as she is able to see Asphodel's flowers, hear and understand her language.

So the flowers _are actually real_ , her eyes had been telling the truth, and everything else is an illusion, not the other way around. Asphodel did so to protect something which we will find out soon. :P

Eliouds are a human clan whose ancestor stole the now extinct _Glutton's_ blood. They fused the blood with priestesses who they call their _Matriarchs,_ who give birth to abominations carrying the Blood of Ill Will. ( Elioud Nobles). They are supposed to be an extinct race, because of their ' wickedness' during their reign, and judgment has already been handed to them. But somehow, they managed to live up until now, hence their hiding from the outside world.

Kagome realizes something on the way. She finds their final obstacle, Asphodel.


	14. Chapter 14: Devotion

**A/N:**

Jotun- giant entities originating from the old dimension of Jotunheim

 _'Italicized dialogue'_ \- Kagome's thoughts

 _ ***Italicized Bold with asterisk* -**_ Asphodelus

* * *

 _ **Devotion**_

* * *

The vines and roots beneath their feet _writhed,_ coming to life when the strange onna jumped off the cliff. Sesshomaru stepped after Kagome in reflex but Miroku held him back, and their lean forward did not prepare them for the odd sight that met their eyes:

Thousands of living vines were reaching out from the bottom of the chasm towards the falling woman, and coming in contact, caught her, curling its squirming tendrils around every part of her possessively, engulfing her small form.

She was being swallowed whole by the giant vines.

They watched her being consumed by the living vegetation and disappear into the bottom of the abyss.

* * *

Kagome tried to steady her emotions. It was not the strange drumming from her soul when faced with an enemy, but the thundering of her own heart when she leapt off the cliff, facing the unknown.

As she descended into the bottom of the chasm, the girl found herself face-to-face with a towering plant-like entity:

Its face looked like a young girl but her size virtually larger than the Tree of Wisdom. Her feet were bound to the ground as roots, her extremities and features obscured as it stretched into a stationary vegetation of lush green vines and small buds of violet flowers. Only her beautiful face was distinguishable, and she was looking down at her.

Her roots and tendrils occupied the entirety of the chasm, stretching upwards, creeping up the ravine, and Kagome knew, outward into the strange terra of Asphodel.

"It is you," the giant smiled. "You have come back."

Asphodelus' voice had a melodic lilt that reminded Kagome of numerous fairy she had encountered.

But this was no fairy, she warned herself as she felt the tendrils that bound her extremities tightened.

This was a _Jotun._

Kagome felt a vine curl fluidly around her neck, tilting her head up so that their eyes can meet.

"Your eyes- although a long time ago, my vision was still fuzzy with youth, there is no mistaking.

It is you."

"I apologize, but I cannot remember," Kagome started, and the tendril around her neck dangerously tightened.

"You do not remember me? When _I_ think of you every single moment?"

The anger of the volatile immortal manifested through her strong vines, and Kagome's heart sped up in fear. Asphodelus was strangling her-

the air in her throat being wrung out. As Kagome choked for breath, the vines immediately loosened, and another batch caught her hands and feet, supporting her in a sitting position.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." the Jotun sobbed, feeling her fear. "I did not mean to hurt you... I would not dare..." the tendrils reached out and caressed her bruised neck gently.

"Asphodelus," Kagome managed hoarsely, "I don't remember _anything_. I fell into a lake of fire, the one in the border between Rune and your territory. Since then I have no recollection..."

The vines curled to her body fully and wrapped her with a tight embrace. "You poor thing," the giant lamented, shedding tears for her sake. "Then all the more wrong I have done you."

"You know me," Kagome tried to relax, but her breath was shaking.

"Of course I know you," The giant said, lips unmoving but voice loud and sonorous . "You were the one who brought me here, two thousand years ago."

"I..." Kagome faltered, unable to process what she said, unable to comprehend anything at all. Asphodel threaded her vines gently across Kagome's hair, so fondly it sent a chill down her spine.

"I was but a dying weed, one of the many in desolate Jotunheim, a blind seed unable to take root. But you held me in your hand and planted me here. You said I was special, and you had something you needed me to do that only I can accomplish.

So you waited for me, patiently waited for me until the first sprout broke through the ground. That is why I could distinguish your voice from anyone, and I could know your energy from anywhere... right now your energy is restricted and locked up, but I know it is you..." The giant shed tears again, although no emotion crossing her face. "You never said you would come back, but you did... I am so happy. I upheld my promise, aren't you proud of me?"

"What was your promise?" she could only ask, and Asphodelus' beautiful face smiled.

"You planted me over an irreparable rift between this dimension and Jotunheim, and told me to stand guard. Not let any mortal near the portal, and to redirect any creature that escapes from Jotunheim, do not let them out of this rift that you named after me... that was what you said,"

"Asphodel..." the giant finally released her, and Kagome was left weak in the knees, unable to stand from the bruises her vines had bound her with.

"Mortals started settling in the borders, and I took pity on them, for like them, I was but a rootless seed before you planted me. I tried to conceal the real atmosphere of Asphodel for them to be able to thrive. But I guarded my promise relentlessly, I never let any mortal near. And I never let any _Jotun_ out of my territory..."

"What else do you know about me?" the girl's tone getting desperate.

"I know your name is Kagome, and you gave that name only to your intimate circle, it was such an honor for me, to be thought as one."

"What else?" Kagome shook, holding back the tears.

"Kagome-sama," Asphodelus grieved, "unfortunately that is all I know...you left the moment I nodded my first bud in promise for you, before I had the ability to speak."

The girl withdrew into her own thoughts in silence.

She was someone, with a vague identity, but at least someone. And she doubted if she would ever remember, but she had to be strong.

For the warmth that comforted her in the terrible emptiness she was left in, for the Inu who fell into the lake. She had something to protect. She couldn't continue crying to every frustration she felt. She couldn't go on being a burden.

"We need passage to the portal to Niflheim," Kagome bid. "Can you grant my companions that?"

"Consider it done," The vines around her shifted and Asphodelus looked up. "my canopy has created an archway they could access. They should be able to cross safely."

"Thank you." Kagome breathed deep. "There is one more thing."

"Anything for you, Kagome-sama." the giant closed her eyes solemnly, "I am yours to command."

* * *

 _'Asphodelus,'_ Kagome spoke through the flowers as they were waiting for her companions to emerge.

 _ ***Yes, Kagome-sama,*** _the Jotun spoke, extending a vine and offering her a violet flower. Kagome gently ran the soft petals through her finger.

 _'When the Elioud first arrived in Asphodel, how old were they in human years?'_

 _ ***I remember them looking about five decades, Kagome-sama.***_

 _'How about now?'_

 _ ***They look about five decades more,***_ Asphodelus answered, _***but they stopped aging, fifty years ago.***_

Asphodelus' flowers danced with the wind, releasing a fragrance she intended her master to appreciate. Kagome nodded in acknowledgment.

 _ ***What are your thoughts? Something is troubling you...***_

Kagome watched the portal flicker. They were probably on their way back now.

 _'I have heard that humans do not live more than a hundred and fifty years in this dimension, unless they are mixed with Youkai or Faery blood.'_

 _* **I follow your trail of thought,***_ Asphodelus urged, and Kagome continued.

 _'But the Elioud are pure human, that I know for sure,'_ Kagome recalled the procession and the earthly scent. _'Sesshomaru-sama appeared fifty years ago._ _S_ _ince then they stopped aging. And he, from what I have observed, is continually weakening._ _Asphodelus, whatever Sesshomaru is,_ _somehow, they have found a way to bind him to them.'_

 _* **What are you trying to say, Kagome-sama?***_

Kagome watched the portal flash a bright blue. They have finally arrived.

 _'What I'm trying to say is..._

 _The Elioud, they are leeching off his lifespan to prolong theirs.'_

* * *

For just one day the warlords were able to enter the portal and retrieve the Youkai Hime. Her name was Kagura, a wind youkai, her beauty surpassing all in any warlord's harem. It was an easy task, the Elioud had already planned the capture in detail.

They were frightening strategists,

and the binds they equipped the warlords with were a hundred more in subjugation amount, making it quick and easy.

The youkai princess did not need any binding, surprisingly. Her arrogant smirk and the drone in her voice spoke volumes for her. She was bored, and was unsatisfied with the poverty-stricken, small village she had to represent. She had gone with them willingly.

When the group had accomplished their goal, they found Kagome waiting for them at the mouth of the portal. Ayame tackled her into a hug, and she greeted the princess in acknowledgment. Sesshomaru strode up to her, closing the gap between them and seized her wrist.

He studied the bruises all over her pale skin.

"These will heal." She assured. "How was the retrieval?"

"As planned." Sesshomaru answered curtly, his amber eyes never leaving hers.

"I brought back something for you, Sesshomaru-sama." gently she pulled her hand away, and tucked her hands in the sleeve of her hanbok, Carefully she unveiled a small tome and presented it to Sesshomaru.

It was the Scroll of Memory.

"How did you-"

"That is the least I can do for now," Kagome nodded, smiling at him as she placed the scroll safely in his hands.. "We need to hurry, our two-week mark is almost over." With that she turned and again, _walked over_ the edge of the cliff. Instead of plunging down, and instead of a large canopy providing a bridge across as they did on their way, individual vines sprang up from the deep chasm and caught her feet, creating a narrow walkway on her wake.

As Ayame and the Hime followed behind, Miroku caught up with Sesshomaru.

"Ojou-chan, she is unlike any other." Miroku expressed his admiration as they watched her quietly lead the way. After a long pause, "My lieutenant, he perished when the Akuma attacked the camp. I am currently in need of one... do you think she will consider, Sesshomaru?"

He turned to the taller warlord. Sesshomaru remained pristine and unruffled, his perfect face wearing the same detached expression as always. However his eyes, they were intent on the hanbok-clad woman. "She is too fragile for the spoils of war." Sesshomaru stated. "Unsuited for combat. She cannot protect herself."

"Then I shall protect her until she is fully trained. As it is, she shall be my personal attendant. An ability like hers-"

"She has a life debt to _me._ " Sesshomaru suddenly snapped, cutting Miroku mid sentence. The faery warlord raised a brow.

"Eh? You saved my life more times than I could even remember. _I_ have life debts to you too, yet you do not keep me by your side."

"I found her first." The White Inu dismissed. "I take the first claim."

The beautiful warlord took a step away. But before he could continue, he paused,and left Miroku with a menacing warning:

"Do not even come close as to touch her. She is _mine._ "

* * *

 **A/N:** Kagome and Asphodelus finally meet. She has been manipulating her illusions to protect a direct rift that leads to Jotunheim. The immortal creature from another dimension has sworn loyalty to her, claiming to be the seed Kagome planted two thousand years ago. Unfortunately that is all she knows of her. Asphodel gives passage to the portal of Niflheim. She also gives Kagome the Scroll of Memory.

Kagome shares her suspicions to her new ally as they waited: the Elioud has been sucking out Sesshomaru's life energy to sustain theirs.


	15. Chapter 15: Baphomet

_**A/N:**_ When I started writing this, I knew this was going to be OOC and a difficult read. (compared to my other lighter fic.) I wrote this because I wanted to imagine Kagome and Sesshomaru in a _completely_ different universe and thrown into a complicated situation, making them find their way to each other despite the odds. This is not for everyone, and I do not strive to please everyone, too. So thanks for the few who appreciate this, I could not imagine another pair of characters inhabiting this story. :P

 _'Italicized' **-**_ Kagome to Asphodelus

 _ ***Italicized bold*-**_ Asphodelus

 _Italicized block **-**_ flashback

* * *

 _ **Baphomet**_

* * *

Sesshomaru's continuous silence gave Kagome so much unrest that on their third day back to the camp, she begged Sesshomaru what was bothering him.

" _Nothing," He said, but Kagome was relentless._

" _Sesshomaru-sama, are you troubled by the fact that you are one of the Elioud-"_

" _No. I am not an Elioud." Sesshomaru stated. "I know it, because I only possessed the Blood of Ill Will after they bound me to be their warlord."_

Kagome secretly cast her gaze on the warlord who was walking quietly beside her.

 _'He knows he is bound, but he is not aware that they are using him.'_

 _ ***Then what are you going to do now?***_

 _'I shall stay beside him... I will find a way to get him out of their hold.'_

 _ ***Why, Kagome-sama?***_

 _' Asphodelus, I feel as if I knew him from before.'_

* * *

They had reached the edge of the great lake with the fire tree , and the group decided to settle in for the night. Seeing her companions asleep, Kagome drifted emptily across the field of violet flowers, running her hands on the smooth petals, trying to reconcile all that has happened.

A familiar presence alerted her thoughts. Kagome spun around and saw Sesshomaru, his white hair glistening under the light drizzle in her eyes. "Sesshomaru-sama," she acknowledged as she stood. She brought her gaze back to the vast field before her. His warmth was overwhelming her again,

but another warmth started forming in her,

the moment he stepped into her personal space.

"Onna, what is the reason behind this attachment?

Are you asking for something in return?" His curiosity was gnawing at him relentlessly.

"Are you seeking for something permanent?"

"No," Kagome shook her head, unable to meet Sesshomaru's gaze. The intensity of his amber eyes overwhelmed her, "Asking for something in return... has never crossed my mind." She thought of her intentions- what were her intentions except for preserving that beautiful warmth in his soul?

But this other warmth that was slowly burning in her, the one that started as a tingle from somewhere in her core, was now a painful flare as he closed the gap between them.

"Then maybe something... _temporary?_ " He coaxed as his slender fingers combed through the locks of her ebony hair. The warlord suddenly bunched the strands in his hands and yanked roughly, exposing the pale, untouched skin of her neck.

He could see the pulsing from her veins, throbbing faster, and something else throbbed in him, his curiosity demolished, his lust escalating into staggering heights.

"Something temporary?" Kagome echoed absently, trembling as he dipped down and fanned his warm breath against her skin. "like what..?" her eyes glazed over as his arm slipped possessively below her breasts, the other hand on her hair crossing her head, angling her neck further sideways, manipulating her from behind as if she were a porcelain marionette. Her breath shook as he answered with a deep, desire-laden rumble from his chest.

"Like... _pleasure_ ," he abandoned restraint and nipped the creamy skin of her neck, his fangs scraping her lightly as his tongue darted out to have a taste, only to find himself seeking more. He delved deeper, immersing himself with the scent of her, trailing wet kisses in his wake, savoring the feel of her pulsing vein as his lips explored upward, to the side of her jaw, the outline of her small face.

Kagome's knees lost strength and she could have collapsed had she not been leaning on Sesshomaru for support. The warlord only pulled her closer, engulfing her small form, the softness and curves of her body intoxicating him, poisoning his senses. The girl whimpered as she felt his hardened member grind against her backside.

"Sessho...maru...sa..," she said breathlessly, dropping the honorific, overwhelmed as he continued his assault, his hand expertly inching closer to the gap between her jacket and her skin,

 _ ***Kagome-sama...***_ Asphodelus could not have picked such perfect timing.

 _'Not now, Asphodelus.'_ Kagome quipped, reeling from dizziness as his mouth had reached the corner of her lips, his hand slipping into her robe, touching the bare skin of her waist, leaving a trail of fire that burned her,

 _ ***Kagome-sama,***_ the Jotun insisted.

 _'I said not now,'_ Kagome almost scolded, her frustration evident in her mental tone. And just as Sesshomaru was about to claim her lips on his own-

* _ **Kagome-sama!***_

Kagome's eyes snapped open and she pulled back, leaving a bewildered Sesshomaru to stare at her. He was still reigning in his lust-driven self when she turned to him, blue eyes eerily luminous in the night sky.

She realized it was not only Asphodelus' voice, but the multiple other whispers that she attributed to the numerous living elements of the rift. They were calling for her attention,

an urgent warning.

"We have to go back," she announced, and Sesshomaru nodded.

* * *

 _ ***I apologize,***_ Asphodelus whispered as they fled through the field of flowers, _***I cannot be of any more help aside from being a voice,***_

 _'No, I ignored your warning,'_ Kagome admitted, but the flowers around her took a deeper shade.

 _ ***It's not your fault. No amount of warning can prevent its coming, they are too fast,***_

They arrived at their temporary camp and Kagome roused her companions with dire urgency. Ayame was still rubbing the sleep off her eyes when Kagome pulled her up. "We have to leave," the girl warned, "something is coming."

Ayame shot up and picked her up, Sesshomaru already had the Youkai Princess on his arms. Miroku drew his sword in preparation as they started their escape.

They had reached the other end of the great lake when a flapping sound rang through the silence of the night. The group halted to a dead stop.

The lake beneath their feet rippled,

and to Kagome's eyes, the flowers around her _trembled_.

 _'Asphodelus,'_

 _ ***They attacked as a horde on the other side, I was able to contain them,**_

 _ **but a few managed to slip inside.**_

 _ **Kagome-sama... I am sorry...***_

 _'Are you hurt?'_ Asphodelus remained silent. _'Asphodelus!'_

 _ ***No, I am fine.***_

From the shadows three figures emerged, horned ram-like beasts standing upright, towering high above them so much like the Alice. The gargantuan fiends were burdened with black wings on their backs.

As the beasts lumbered towards them, they brandished deadly scythes, rust eating off the edges of the blade, dried blood crusted on the curved tips.

 _'What are we up against,'_ Kagome assessed.

 _ ***Baphomets,***_ came the answer.

Miroku dragged his katana against the ground, releasing a familiar trail of crystal spikes that came shooting through the ground towards the imposing monsters. The Baphomet stretched its wings and released a single flap-

shattering the fatal spikes into crystalline fragments.

The Baphomet bellowed, and from a distance, something answered.

 _'What kind of youkai is this,'_ Kagome could not recall their appearance from Kaede's book.

 _ ***Not a youkai,***_ Asphodelus warned as the monsters suddenly shivered. It opened its eyes, and started tapping its feet on the ground.

 _ ***A Jotun.***_

The Baphomets suddenly disappeared- it had dashed towards them in abnormal speed, and before they knew it, it was smack _in front of them_ , bellowing its monstrous scream in their face.

* * *

The deafening blast of Ayame's gun rang through the emptiness of the night: she drew her barrel and shot point blank, releasing a fume of smoke and blood spatter.

"It's not working," Ayame muttered, and Kagome breathed. "Its a Jotun." she answered.

The towering monster paused only for a while before it started attacking again, and the youkai lieutenant released an onslaught of deafening blasts as she tried to ward off the abnormally strong beast. From behind them another Baphomet opened its horribly unhinged jaws and splayed out a weave of thick binds. Ayame sprang away grabbing Kagome with her, just in time for the third other one to splay, missing Miroku and Sesshomaru only by inches.

Ayame launched into a chase, one of the Baphomets tailing in pursuit. She threw her gaze towards Miroku: he had created a crystal barrier around him and the youkai princess, but a Baphomet was pounding its deadly scythe, slowly chipping it away as if it were made of mere ice.

Sesshomaru was tied up with one, all the while trying to reach Miroku and the princess.

"Kagome-chan," Ayame sought as she narrowly dodged the scythe, and let out another bone-shaking discharge from her heavy barrel.

 _'Any weaknesses?'_ Kagome clambered, trying to ignore the massive drumming to her soul that started the moment the Baphomet appeared close-range.

 _ ***None that I know of,***_ Asphodelus answered to her disbelief.

The drumming only increased and it was a torturing pain. Something wanted to break free from her and immense fear swallowed her whole. The Baphomet in pursuit suddenly lunged at them and brandished its scythe.

It sliced through the lieutenant, creating a large gash to her backside. "Ayame!"

The terrible drumming was deafening her ears. Just as the beast raised its blade to deliver another blow, Kagome held fast to the wounded Ayame and closed her eyes.

In a familiar sickening spell, she opened a portal opened from below them and they found themselves displaced yards away from the Baphomet, beside Miroku and the princess. Ayame, albeit wounded and nauseated, knelt up and channeled her energy to the barrier, reinforcing Miroku's magic.

The faery warlord's strength was slowly draining-

the Jotuns were sucking energy from the milieu, including his.

 _''Its as if their energy has no end,'_ Kagome almost panicked as she saw Sesshomaru in combat, and her eyes widened in realization.

He was bloodied, and the blood stain was on the Jotun. Yet the monster continued its attack.

 _'Asphodelus, why is the Blood of Ill Will not affecting it?'_

 _ *** It may weaken us Jotuns but not immobilize. We do not possess mortal blood.***_

The pounding of the Baphomet to the barrier did not help the torturing drumming that did not cease. She felt as if her chest would explode and she involuntarily lurched, but she struggled to maintain her eyes open, in desperate search for something _,_ anything.

 _ ***Kagome-sama, I am too far away, I cannot help you with my vines...***_

The barrier was shattering and Miroku started to reveal severe bruising on his arms- the crystal fortress was a direct manifestation of his life energy. The contusions burst into open wounds, and Miroku fell to his knees. The useless princess cowered behind Kagome.

 _'No weak points,'_ Kagome was desperate, her eyes darting to the Baphomets, _'there should be a critical point,"_

Kagome's eyes suddenly opened wide. "Miroku-sama, hang in there!" she exclaimed, and disappeared in a flash of white.

* * *

She appeared behind Sesshomaru and latched herself to the warlord.

"Onna, this is not the time to play games-" he dodged the scythe narrowly, a small cut appearing on the side of his face. His own blood dripped from his torso from where the beast had bitten him. It was restricting his movement, and he started teetering from exhaustion, the poison burning through his skin.

"Sesshomaru-sama," Kagome offered in haste, "its eyes."

The point where the Baphomet's energy pulsed the strongest was in its eyes, and finding that out, Sesshomaru snarled, baring his fangs. He sprang up and literally reached out and grabbed one of its horns, raising his Katana and plunged it into its eye.

The Baphomet staggered back, and even before it could regain, Sesshomaru beheaded it in a single blow. Blood spattered on Kagome's face but at the moment it did not matter. They needed to survive.

* _ **Behind you,***_ Asphodelus warned, and she tightened her hold around Sesshomaru and they disappeared, missing the strike, and appearing smack in front of the monster that was engaged with the crystal barrier.

Sesshomaru, still with the head of the beast on hand, rammed the dead baphomet's horn into the living one's eyes, the jotun reeling backwards, disengaging from the barrier. With bloodied hands he slit the beast's throat, blood splaying in his own face. Sesshomaru bolted forward and flexed his claws, digging them into the third approaching baphomet's eyes and used it as leverage to leap above it, slashed his katana with such force the beast was hurled at a distance, a trail of guts and blood on its wake.

* * *

As the barrier finally came down, Miroku collapsed in Ayame's lap, exhausted. The lieutenant held her mate fast, checking his pulse. It was weakened but it was there. She winced as she checked on the princess, and then turned to Kagome.

"Thank you," she whispered, but found the girl on a kneeling position, hands on her chest, clutching over it as if she were wrung out in intractable pain. "Kagome-chan?"

The drumming had not ceased, and her vision was flickering. _'Asphodelus,'_ Kagome sought, ' _do you hear it?'_

 _ ***Hear what, Kagome-sama?***_

 _'The drumming,'_ she whimpered as she reached out to an exhausted Sesshomaru, _'something threatening is close by,'_

 _*_ _ **Kagome-sama, I do not-***_

The hand that was reaching out to her warlord was suddenly intercepted. Binds shot out of nowhere and seized her wrist. She heard a male voice, one she did not recognize, speak from behind.

"Separate them," the language Kagome realized was like Asphodelus', "she creates the gateways."

Kagome then felt immense subjugation that knocked her breath away. She was suddenly dragged away from the group, her head hitting something hard. With whatever strength was in her left, she struggled to raise her gaze-

it was another Baphomet, but this time it was bigger than the perished beasts, bigger than an Inu Sesshomaru, bigger than Asphodelus.

 _* **Kagome-sama, they cloaked their energy,***_

"detain her," a female voice said, and Kagome sharply drew a breath when she saw another colossal baphomet at the other edge of the clearing, a giant axe in its hands.

 _'No,'_ she could not even speak, the subjugation was nothing she had felt before. She could barely open her eyes. _'This is not happening,'_ Kagome stammered, subjugation ribbons shooting out from the Baphomet that held her. She watched helplessly as her once proud, strong companions were bound and rendered powerless, just like that.

The giant ax-wielding baphomet strode in front of Miroku and raised its hammer to strike. The princess screamed.

The drumming to Kagome's soul evolved into a pounding. She could not comprehend anymore.

* _ **Kagome-sama, the drumming, where is it coming from?***_ Asphodelus asked very calmly, evidence of her two thousand years of existence .

 _'From my soul,'_ Kagome lurched.

* _ **Why are you holding it back?***_

An explosion of light blinded them, Sesshomaru's inu form came crashing into the colossal beast. Immediately the great dog razed the jotun from behind, sinking its teeth deep into the monster's neck. The giant dug its claws into the inu's muscles in an attempt to release its jaws.

 _'Because... I fear,'_

Ayame, able to free herself from the binds, let out a blast stronger than she would have, this did not even disable the jotun. Binds shot out again from Kagome's captor, disabling the lieutenant and she fell on her knees.

A surge of ancient power thrummed in the Jotun's axe. A vector opened from above them and out came energy the shape of lightning, striking the inu, paralyzing him that instant.

 _ ***Kagome-sama, when I first met you, you smiled at me... I hesitated, breaking ground into another dimension, but you told me not to fear...***_

"The onna does not have the skills for combat," the male baphomet said. "She is useless without them."

 _Sesshomaru-sama,_ Kagome whimpered as she watched the axe-wielding baphomet throw Sesshomaru's kimono over his now humanoid form. "Then we shall finish the inu first," the female beast answered.

 _ ***Kagome-sama, do not fear it, the drumming might be something that wants to protect you,***_

As she watched the helpless form of Sesshomaru and her companions, a very distant memory invaded her mind.

 _It was of her, holding a lifeless Sesshomaru in her arms, a sword jutting out of his chest, and arrows riddled on her back. "And I promise again, Koi, no matter how many more lifetimes it would take," she whispered, "For you are worth it all."_

"I may not remember anything about me," Kagome sobbed, "but I remember that I promised him,"she opened her eyes, opening a part of her soul from where the drumming was the strongest, and she felt a wash of relief as the drumming subsided, brushing her subjugated, bruised energy.

"I promised him something, Asphodelus, I dont know what it is,

but I intend to keep it."

A burst of defensive energy unlocked, and Kagome knew it was only temporary for her to borrow.

* * *

From behind Sesshomaru, the jotun raised its giant axe in a sickening high angle,

and poised to strike. Ayame could only watch in resignation. Sesshomaru had been drained, but still crouched before them, shielding them from the blow that was about to come.

The ground shook in impact as the gargantuan jotun struck her axe. An immense shockwave displaced the remaining bound figures. The giants themselves braced their feet firmly on the ground lest the impact knock them out. It took a while for the cloud of dust to clear.

Sesshomaru slowly opened his eyes.

He was still alive.

Directly on his line of sight was an equally shocked Ayame, but she was not looking at him, rather looking _past_ him, at what was shielding them. Sesshomaru slowly turned, and the sight left him frozen.

Legs buckled beneath her, jaw tightened from the weight of the gigantic axe on her _bare_ hands, and a ripped subjugation bind on her bruised wrists.

It was the onna.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ Their two-week journey has come to an end. On their way back, Kagome confirms that he is not an Elioud, but bound by their magic, and he does not know they are using him. She promises to stay by his side and 'look for a way.' As they neared the encampment, Sesshomaru's lust-driven side takes over and he propositions her. It is cut short when Baphomets attack them-

they barely survive with the skin of their teeth, and when older beasts crush their hopes, Kagome releases the drumming in her soul.

Yes! I haven't reached my a/n word count limit yet! Its a miracle!


	16. Chapter 16: Matriarch

_**A/N:**_ Wakizashi- japanese short sword, used as a companion to the katana

* * *

 _ **Matriarch**_

* * *

The gigantic beast pushed down, Kagome ground her teeth and her arms shook from the sheer weight that bore down on her. A portal opened from behind them. "Kagome-chan..." Ayame managed. The onna's wrists were black and blue, remnants of the binding seal torn in a forced attempt to rip away.

"Get in the portal!" Kagome commanded, and with collected force, shoved the hammer up, the gargantuan titan knocked a few steps backward. Collecting her balance Kagome propelled herself towards them, shoving them into the gateway.

Another unexpected shockwave reverberated through the valley.

The jotun's axe struck again.

A portal opened from above and their bodies slammed unceremoniously on the cold ground, a fair distance from the giant.

The sound of metal sliced in the crisp air.

Kagome had taken Sesshomaru's wakizashi in an awkward angle, having no knowledge in sword wielding. It did not trouble her at that moment, as long as she knew where to strike, technique did not matter. She launched herself head-on towards the direction of the Jotun.

Everything happened too fast for even the beasts to intervene.

She was swallowed by a bright light and she disappeared, a portal opened high above the giant manipulating the subjugation binds. Kagome came crashing down the weakest strand of the binds and struck, the blade slicing through. His sword almost shattered from the pressure.

The ribbons fractured, snapping Ayame, Miroku and the princess free.

The Behemoth immediately noticed. It pivoted towards them, shaking the ground as it charged. For its gargantuan size, it moved abnormally fast. Kagome turned and disappeared, reappearing before them again and a vector swallowed them from the ground, narrowly missing the strike.

As they came tumbling out haphazardly, a ribbon of binding seals shot out of the portal they came in from. It took one of Kagome's arm, and in one unreserved pull she ripped the bind away, slashing her arm, leaving a violent streak of blood on the ground, just across Sesshomaru's eyes.

They watched, a silent witness, helpless and unable to move.

 _ ***Bring them to me, I will help you as much as I can,***_ Asphodelus said.

The onna mustered up all her strength and fought the unforgiving subjugation. A torrent of binding ribbons seized her hands, her arms, her feet, her body, taking over her entire form, wrapping her completely, leaving only her eerie blue eyes open.

Kagome fell like a broken puppet on the ground. Sesshomaru's broken sword dropped with a clang, and she was dragged into the portal, as its light faded and darkness dawned on them.

The baphomet bellowed in victory. It took two beasts to bind the meddling woman, and one of them strode forward to deliver, with its free hand, the intercepted blow to the weakened warriors.

But before it could connect, the axe, they realized, was dematerializing.

Dissolving in a soft, white light.

Sesshomaru's eyes widened as he realized two vectors had appeared underneath and above the entirety of the Baphomets. Kagome was using their binds as her connection to the beasts, she was trying to teleport the beasts away from them, _to bring them with her._

"Onna," Sesshomaru snarled, rising from his position. "No!"

The light intensified and in a flash, the portal swallowed Kagome and the baphomets whole.

They were left in an immense silence.

Everything was finally still.

* * *

The three figures materialized at the bottom of the abyss, right to where Asphodelus' heart was. Immediately her vines seized the beasts' limbs and they released the subjugation binds, slamming Kagome on the ground.

The nightly rain started to fall on their miserable forms.

* _ **Leave,***_ Asphodelus commanded, * _ **while you have the chance.***_

 _'What-'_ Kagome remained rooted to her spot as she realized Asphodelus had a big laceration to her heart. She was bleeding, and the Jotuns twisted and started hacking on her vines

 _ ***Leave, Kagome-sama!***_

' _You have been wounded! Why did you lie to me?!'_ The flowers around her flickered, and Kagome realized what Asphodelus was trying to do.

 _ ***I did not want you to worry,***_ Asphodelus assured,

 _ ***Kagome-sama, when I die, my roots and vines will rigor and harden, it shall seal the portal to Jotunheim permanently, and lock these Baphomets in my grasp forever-***_

 _'No!'_ Blinded in desperation, Kagome teleported right across the Baphomet in an attempt to reach its eyes. The female beast ripped from Asphodelus' vines and struck with its bare claws, mortally wounding the girl, a violent splatter of Kagome's blood streaking across its eyes. The girl came crashing down on the ground in a sickening breaking of bones.

 _ ***Kagome-sama!***_ Asphodelus' vines instantly formed a fortress around her to shield her from the attacking beast,but she was weak. The male baphomet snapped loose and charged, digging its claws to Kagome's small body. Asphodelus' vines retaliated in anger, but the beast turned and struck her heart.

"Stop it," Kagome pleaded, frustrated at her uselessness, at her flickering life.

 _ ***Kagome-sama, you made me very happy,***_ her violet flowers were fading in color.

"Stop it..." Kagome clenched her teeth as the brutal blood loss was starting to claim her, and she could hear the merciless hacking of their axes on Asphodelus' vines. Kagome was dying, but this beautiful, loyal creature, did she deserve to perish because of her weakness?

 _ ***just seeing you again after two thousand years, I am prepared to face anything...**_

 _ **even my demise.***_

"STOP IT!" Kagome screamed, her heart suddenly stopped beating.

A rush of blood suddenly pulsed through her veins, and she gasped sharply for air. The baphomets suddenly pulled away as her eyes zeroed in on the beasts. The monsters dropped their axes and _convulsed._

* * *

"Dont you dare touch her," Kagome hissed, the ground shaking as the giants crashed to the ground. Her spattered blood, instead of washing away from the rain, was spreading like a festering infection. Kagome's eyes were wide and maniacal.

Her eyes flashed an intense vermilion despite the absence of light.

One of the Baphomets attempted to fight the immobilizing curse, but Kagome had lost restraint. "Do not touch her!" she continued screaming, and from the beast's claws where it first struck her, heavy chains shot out, binding the giant like a ragdoll.

Her cursing bloodstain had opened into a gateway.

The other Baphomet bellowed in agony, chains springing out from its eyes where the girl's blood first hit it. Their gigantic bodies continued convulsing, her blood spreading like wildfire, and the chains pulled their limbs grotesquely inward, a slow, torturing implosion, pulling them inside the dark portal her sanguine had created.

 _'What is happening,'_ Kagome backed away, watching in detached fascination, her anger still simmering, but the sheer abnormality of it all halting her rage,

 _'Asphodelus,'_

the convulsions reminded her of the Blood of Ill Will,

only stronger, but what were these chains? what was this portal?

 _ ***It seems, Kagome-sama, your cursing blood is strong...**_

 _ **enough to drag a Jotun physically to the Dark Void.***_

Kagome stood beneath the downpour, and she watched the once impenetrable beasts wither like a leaf under her curse.

 _'Asphodelus,'_ Kagome trembled. _'Do you know what this connection to the void means?'_

 _ ***Kagome-sama,***_

The girl stood deathly still.

 _'I do not want to be the mother of a condemned race..._

 _I don't want to be a Matriarch...'_

 _ ***Oh, Kagome-sama...***_ Asphodelus, for the first time in two thousand years, dropped all her illusions to wrap her vines and comfort her shell shocked master. Kagome knelt before the imploding Baphomets, unaware of the tears falling on her bloodied face. The adrenaline had finally died down.

 _'Asphodelus,_

 _don't tell anyone.'_

Kagome said absently, vermilion eyes fading back into the cool blue her eyes would always settle to in darkness.

 _* **I shall keep this secret for all eternity, until you say otherwise.***_

"Baphomet," the bloodied girl spoke, hovering a hand over the remaining beast's eyes. It did not respond, but it shook. "What do you see?"

In the downpour, the beast's eyes were glazed over. Its vision was already in another world, one completely different from all other worlds.

"I see darkness, and emptiness." it answered.

Kagome finally broke down and embraced herself to cry, Asphodel wrapping her vines intimately. The Baphomet shivered, and it opened its mouth to speak again, but it found it already lost its ability. He would have made her aware, the onna that unintentionally cursed him into the dark void.

 _Little onna, I see rain,_

he would have told her.

 _Never ending rain._

* * *

When night fell at the camp, it rained like it never did before in the rift of Asphodel. Ayame and Miroku, who were seated by the injured Sesshomaru, cast their gaze on the raincloud-riddled sky outside.

"It's been so long," Ayame commented, and Miroku gazed at the sleeping warlord.

"I hope," he started, "the rain has nothing to do with our Ojou-chan."

Sesshomaru's amber eyes opened. "Onna," he shot up but grimaced- blood burst from his bandage on his torso from the sudden movement. "Damn it-" he cursed through clenched teeth. The last image he saw before he lost consciousness was of her sacrificing herself for their escape. "The onna," He managed,

Miroku only stared at him gravely. "Ojou-chan... she is..."

"Here." Kagome's voice cut in, and all eyes fell on the dark entryway to Sesshomaru's tent.

"Kagome-chan," Ayame gaped at the girl's form. In the dim of the night, she was drenched in rain, her tattered hanbok soiled in a bloodbath. Receding bruises and what looked like healed slashes riddled her form, how she could have managed standing was bewildering.

She slowly made her way in and knelt beside them. "I am glad, everyone is alright."

She turned to the Inu warlord. "I'm sorry I broke your wakizashi, Sesshomaru-sama. " she leaned forward to prostrate herself, but much to her surprise, Sesshomaru's claws squeezed around her throat, drawing blood from her pale skin.

"You are mine. _I_ get to decide when you live or die." He pulled her into a painful, possessive embrace that crushed the air out of Kagome's lungs. "Keep that in mind, foolish onna." The madness in his tone had spoken volumes of his worry, and Kagome nodded her head.

For the first time, Sesshomaru felt overwhelmed with fear, and he did not know how to deal with it.

"I protect you. You are nothing without me."

* * *

The two-day journey back to Asphodel's town proper was uneventful, and Kagome paused as the thousand steps leading to the Elioud's dwelling loomed over her vision. She stared up, at the fog that was concealing the cursed race's abode high up in the hill, her other companions disappearing in the heavy concealment spell that hung in the air.

The flowers had ended at the foot of the steps.

 _ ***I cannot stand to be near them physically. I did not like the aura of their blood... But my illusions are as strong up there as it is down here. My fragrance is enough to fool the humans.***_

 _'So you cannot stand me, then?'_ Kagome smiled bitterly.

 _ ***There is no malice in your soul, and nothing will change my love for you.***_ Asphodelus' flowers danced with the wind.

Kagome watched Sesshomaru turn around, their figures obscured by the heavy fog. He held out his hand towards her, and she was lulled by the familiar warmth his mere proximity had provided. His eyes shone with frightening expectation for her obedience.

 _ ***If you want to, I can keep you forever in my heart... where nobody could hurt you, no one can reach you,***_

Kagome smiled. _'There is no need. The plan has not changed... I will stay by his side, Asphodelus._

 _Until I find a way for him.'_

 _ ***Of course,***_ Asphodel conceded, _***Shall you need me, I am right here steadfastly waiting, Kagome-sama. My loyalty is yours forever.***_

 _'Thank you.'_

Kagome took Sesshomaru's hand and stepped forward, away from the security of the Jotun's flowers, and into the lair of the Elioud itself.

* * *

A/N: My head is aching just writing those action sequences. :(

Asphodelus has been wounded all along and she offers her life to protect Kagome. The girl, frustrated and desperate, ends up being fatally wounded. But seeing Asphodel die before her very eyes, she comes back, this time her blood spatter throwing the beasts into a powerful curse it could only be an extreme form of the Blood of Ill Will. To top it all off, her spatter also created a portal connecting to the dark void and dragged the beasts into it. Realizing the connection, Kagome cries as she realizes her ties give her the ability to be an Elioud Matriarch. She asks Asphodelus to keep it a secret.

As she decides to stay beside Sesshomaru, she leaves the protection of Asphodelus to enter the Elioud's territory.

(She also failed to hear one detail that the Baphomet would have said about the dark void: it was a place where it perpetually rained.)


	17. Chapter 17: The Harem

_**A/N:**_ I might have subtly thrown clues that went unnoticed, but here I point out some of the 'clues':

Nope, they are not in the Dark Void, ;) it is what it is: she fell in a hidden rift called Asphodel. In the last chapter, the Baphomet described the Void perfectly: dark, empty, and _perpetually_ _raining._

And Yes, Sesshomaru and Kagome's souls are connected, deeper than you think. Go back to the very first chapter and take note of the number of lifetimes.

Thanks for your patience. We're almost there, to where it all began. :)

* * *

" _A Love that is transcendent; it removes conditions, limitations, and it is not hindered by any boundaries, it goes beyond all the superficial terms of the mortal nature."_

* * *

 _ **The Harem**_

* * *

She had only slept for an hour the whole night.

Kagome opened her eyes and stilled, taking in the thought that it was morning, and she was lying on a soft futon, with a roof over her head, and not under trees or the raincloud-riddled sky.

She was dry and warm. The large open windows before her reminded her of where she was: Sesshomaru-sama's estate, on the room beside his. She felt no movement on the other quarters beside hers. Had he left? Was he even awake?

She did not feel the heavy, slimy _haki_ of the Elioud mingling in the air. Their residence was higher up, on top of the hill, and she realized they strategically put the warlords by their feet to protect their cowardly selves if an attack occurred.

She pondered. Sometimes, her aptitude for strategy and tactics surprised her.

Slowly she stood up and looked outside the window. Despite the fog, she could see it clearly: the hill was overlooking the entirety of the town of Asphodel. She found the small outline of Fumiko's inn, allowing a smile to escape her lips.

Then her gaze drifted to the borders of Rune, towards the lake of fire. The smile turned melancholic.

She had remembered again.

She closed her eyes, the vision coming to life before her very eyes, buried from the deepest recesses of her soul.

" _Who are you?" the familiar voice said, and she turned around from the view overlooking an immense city in Jotunheim. She saw him, familiar golden eyes curious and in alarm, platinum-white hair blinding under the bright sun ._

 _She smiled at him fondly. "Ah, I have been looking for you," she told him, her ever-present amber hair ribbon fluttering in breeze._

She realized the more she tried to remember, the more detail she could recall, and the more memories she could conjure. She was not even sure if it were memories or just dreams, because the circumstances were impossible: Ninety-seven lifetimes, all in a different time, all in a different place. It spanned even to different dimensions, some she did not even know existed.

And it had one main theme: She had been looking for him, the next vision ended up with him dying in her arms.

A knock on her door jolted her to her senses.

She had expected Sesshomaru, but another sight greeted her. It was an unknown young woman, beautiful by all standards, politely on bowing by her doorstep.

"Uh, hello?" Kagome suddenly felt insignificant compared to the well-refined doll that stood in front of her. Fumiko had never taught her how to act like a lady, and she realized Kaede's irk had been justified all along. She brought her attention back to the lady, who shifted, her sunset eyes meeting hers.

"Sesshomaru-sama requests for your presence at the breakfast table," her voice was in perfect moderation. A sinking feeling settled on Kagome's gut, the more she stared at the woman. She tried to shake it away. Gathering her sleeping yukata she stood and nodded. "Of course," she strode forward, when the woman giggled.

"Is there anything you find funny?" Kagome paused, and the woman's sunset eyes danced in mirth.

"Are you really planning to face him wearing that?" she asked, and Kagome did a double-take. What she was wearing might not be as intricate as hers but it was _presentable_. The girl suddenly strode forward and pulled her back inside, opening the large unnoticed drawers and pulling out several kimonos. Her eyes widened in wonder. "he sure has picked a beautiful batch for you," she commented.

Kagome knelt by her side. "I... don't know how to put those seven layers on."

The woman paused. "Are you serious?" she turned to her. Kagome's silence was answer enough, and she just sighed, picking out a lavender-and-blue one with butterfly patterns. She huffed. "Oh well, I guess I should help you."

"Thank You," Kagome managed. "What is your name?"

"Sakuya." She answered offhandedly.

* * *

The dressing took shorter than Kagome expected and she found them walking by the long hallways of his traditional estate. They finally stopped in front of a shoji door.

Sakuya promptly bowed down, Kagome nodding in appreciation. When the girl left, Kagome reached out for the door and paused, taking in a deep breath.

When she started to pull, a hand suddenly gripped her shoulder. Startled, she spun around and saw the friendly face of her lieutenant friend, Ayame.

She was in a kimono herself. "Wow, just look at you clean up, Kagome-chan!" she praised, her eyes studying her friend's form in appreciation. "Sesshomaru-sama sure knows how to pick a-" her words suddenly halted to a stop.

Ayame's eyes darted around.

"Eh, Ayame is there something-" Kagome was not able to finish her sentence when Ayame dragged her away from the door, roughly to a hidden corner and started undoing her blue obi. "H-hey" Kagome pulled away, a blush rising to her cheeks. Ayame only clawed at her crossed hands desperately.

"Stop!" she whisper-screamed. "What are you doing?"

"Who dressed you?" came the question, and Kagome studied Ayame's genuinely worried expression. "Kagome-chan," Ayame prodded.

"Her name was Sakuya," The onna answered, and Ayame's face took a vindictive look.

"No wonder." The lieutenant's eyes steeled and she resumed with undoing Kagome's obi. This time, the girl did not protest. She expertly undid the knot and rearranged the front of Kagome's kimono, spinning her back again to retie her ribbon. "You better be careful with those harem girls, Kagome-chan."

"H-harem girls?" Kagome bleated absently, unsure of the terrible flutter in her stomach.

Ayame noticed the hurt tone in her voice, and bit her lip. Could she really leave her alone like this? She had finished tying the obi and the lieutenant put her hands on the girl's small shoulders. "Remember, Kagome-chan, the kimono always goes left over right. Not the other way around, like what Sakuya did."

"Oh," She watched the girl painfully struggle through her emotions. "So when does 'the other way around' happen?" her distracted tone made the lieutenant want to steal her friend away and make her pledge loyalty to another warlord.

Ayame slowly pulled her back toward the door. "Unless it is your funeral and you are a corpse, that is when right over left happens."

She opened the doors and Kagome stepped inside.

* * *

"Onna." Sesshomaru acknowledged, his golden eyes followed the girl's kimono-clad form. Her hair was brushed up but hung in waves that framed her face, and her eyes were bright vermilion on the daylight. She knelt for a dogeza, and his eyes wandered to her exposed skin.

He struggled to contain the lust that was consuming him so early in the morning.

But Kagome, on the other hand, tried to contain her unease. Beside the Warlord was another immensely beautiful woman, pouring him a cup of tea, touching him lightly on his wrist every now and then to whisper something to him, which Sesshomaru would subtly lean over to hear what she had to say.

Someone suddenly cleared their throat. Kagome closed her eyes, hopelessly thankful for Ayame's presence beside her. "Sesshomaru-sama, I do suggest you say what you have to, Kagome-chan is obviously tired and in need of more rest."

The woman beside Sesshomaru shifted. "What are you doing here, Ayame? Is it not today your free day?"

"I just dropped by to see my friend, Tomoe, thank you very much." She gave the woman an overly sweet smile.

"I summoned the onna to tell her that she shall start training as my personal attendant under you, Tomoe." Golden eyes narrowed to the brown-haired woman beside him. For a while her green eyes flashed, but it sunk back into the calculated calm it had always been.

Ayame strained. "Are you telling me-"

"No." Sesshomaru cut her mid-sentence. "The Onna will not be a part of my harem. But for now she will train as a personal attendant otherwise. Tomoe?" He sought.

"I would be glad to, Sesshomaru-sama." The emerald-eyed woman smiled perfectly, her gaze falling on the girl beside the lieutenant. "Such a pleasure, Kagome-chan. My name is Tomoe, Sesshomaru-sama's _favorite_."

Ayame noticed the girl's silence the whole time: Her stare was glued to the wooden floor.

The lieutenant couldn't bear to see her helpless. She remembered the image that was burned into her memory, from three days ago: of Kagome and the gigantic axe on her bare hands, her arms shaking from the immense size and weight, shielding them from the blow.

Now the same girl knelt beside her, incapable of any decision or movement.

Ayame had to think fast. "If you would agree, Sesshomaru-sama, I would like to bring Kagome-chan to Izayoi, she has been Miroku's personal attendant more than Tomoe has been yours. She shall train under her."

Sesshomaru contemplated, and finally, "Very well then. But bring her back at the end of each day, to my estate when Izayoi is done with her."

With one last look at the quiet onna, "You are dismissed."

* * *

"I'm sorry," Kagome apologized softly, "I know you mentioned to me about his harem when we first met, I guess I was surprised when I saw it with my own eyes..."

Kagome turned to Ayame as they stepped out of Sesshomaru's estate, into a dirt road leading to Miroku's. Ayame's gaze met hers. "I'm afraid that would be your initial reaction."

"Thanks for staying by my side the whole time." Kagome cast her glance absently on the flowers that lined the dirt. The fires were still ablaze here and there, but the familiar violet hue was missing.

 _*If you want to, I can keep you forever in my heart... where nobody could hurt you, no one can reach you,*_

Asphodel's tempting offer jumped out of her confused, restless head.

"Of course I would!" Ayame grinned in an attempt to lift her spirits up. "I wouldn't just let those monsters eat you alive, wouldn't I?" She flexed her right arm haughtily. "Hey, we took down Akuma hordes and damn Jotuns, so we sure can handle mere bitches!"

The corners of Kagome's lips inevitably twitched upwards, but then the memory of the night with the Baphomets, convulsing in her blood, being dragged into the Dark Void plagued her thoughts. She struggled to find her smile. Ayame had been silently observing her.

"In a far shot, Sesshomaru-sama has been alternating his harem girls as his personal attendant. He's probably planning for you to be like Izayoi, a permanent attendant."

"But that wouldn't mean he'd get rid of his Harem, though." Kagome answered. Ayame's shoulders slumped. Kagome had to smile, seeing Ayame's desperate attempts to make light of the situation. They stopped in front of another estate, the girl surmised it was Miroku's.

"Kagome-chan," Ayame took her hand,

The girl shook her head. "I will be okay, Ayame." The lieutenant only stared at her. Kagome suddenly felt guilty over Ayame's worry. "Does Miroku-sama also have a harem?" She tried, and that took Ayame out of her obsession.

"The heck!" she slammed her fists together. "I'd blast his dick off if that would happen!"

The girl could only giggle.

* * *

Izayoi, Kagome found out, was a mild-mannered, middle-aged Fae who served Miroku since his start as a Warlord for the Elioud, from which she was mated to another Warlord named Touga. On her first day she let her follow her around, occasionally throwing lessons here and there, and Ayame prodded the attendant to practice her with tea ceremony. Her lieutenant friend also volunteered Miroku to be the 'dummy' on kimono and armor dressing, a task she was sure Kagome would often have to do, and the girl honestly enjoyed the whole day.

Her companions were so lively and entertaining she did not notice daylight was fading.

She also found the tasks considerably easy, she had caught on so fast after the first demonstrations, Miroku expressed his suspicions that she might have knowledge of it in the past and it only needed muscle memory to trigger it.

When nighttime fell, Kagome found herself standing before Sesshomaru's closed room, the joy of the day dissipated as moans and grunts of pleasure echoed through the thin shoji doors.

She would have told him of her arrival and how her day went, but hearing that he was busy with something else, she slipped into the quiet of her room before the warlord could catch scent of her inevitable tears, deciding to call it a night.

She took a last glimpse outside before she closed her windows.

Rain.

 _How she hated rain._

 _But with him being this close,_

 _Just the thought of it made her soul feel happy._

* * *

Sesshomaru tossed and turned, struggling to sleep despite his lust being satiated over and over again through the night. Tomoe was fast asleep beside him, naked and limbs tangled against his.

When Sesshomaru finally did sleep, his dreams of the flames haunted him yet again, and it was the same as every night: trapped in an inferno he could never escape.

A sudden familiar warmth washed over his dream, he saw the flames ease,

and finally, dissolved in embers, reduced to ashes.

He drifted away into a long-awaited dreamless rest.

* * *

Dawn had broken and he woke up, feeling replenished. He attributed it not to his relations last night, but to the dreamless sleep he was able to steal. Careful not to wake the sleeping woman beside him, he rose from his position and put on his sleeping yukata, his footsteps quiet on the wooden floor as he padded outside.

He opened the shoji doors and halted.

Sesshomaru almost stepped on a large lump on the foot of his door.

It was the Onna, asleep right before the entryway to his room, curled up in her own sleeping yukata. Her ebony locks lavishly fanned out on the wooden floor, contrasting her immaculately pale skin. Her lips were parted slightly open, immersed in a dream.

He was lulled into a spell that her mere beauty had weaved.

Ironically, she was clutching his broken wakizashi, and her unintentional protectiveness reminded him of a faithful dog guarding the entrance to his master's house.

Had she been here the whole night? He recalled his dreamless sleep.

Her proximity had allowed her familiar warmth reach toward his soul and give him temporary rest.

Carefully gathering her in his arms, he brought her back into the confines of her own room and gently deposited her on her futon, all the while fighting the lust that was building inside him again.

He contemplated on stealing a taste from her tempting lips, but painfully managed to tear himself away.

Sesshomaru stepped out of her room and closed the shoji screen behind him, a hand lingering longingly at the door.

He felt tormented,

but he would not treat her as he did with his whores.

She was his to protect and cherish,

even in his rapidly fading existence.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ I don't really know if you guys need a summary for this.

Kagome has visions of ninety-seven lifetimes of Sesshomaru, her looking for him and the next part, him dying in his arms. She is not sure if it really was a memory because of its sheer impossibility: it spanned different times, to other dimensions. She then finds out about the Harem, and is discouraged. She contemplates on her unexplained hatred towards rain, and thinks of the warlord.

In the end she still chooses to be with him, sleeping as close as she can. (because she knows about his nightmares.)

Sesshomaru, as we can see, unknowingly hurts her, but on his side, is a different story. And it seems that he knows... about his dwindling lifespan.


	18. Chapter 18: The Celestial Summon

_**A/N:** Hmmm... _Looks like someone saw through the maze... hooray! :) For those who have stayed, thanks for your patience! Again this is not everybody's cup of tea, and I know that I can't please everyone, nor do I strive to. We are actually nearing the end. (I planned this to end between 22, 23 the most...depends.) The conclusion of the story? It may not be as complicated as you think. ;)

Oiran- prostitute

Tea house- lets just say the tea house in this place doubles as a brothel :)

* * *

 _ **The Celestial Summon**_

* * *

It had only been the second day since he brought her here, yet she felt as if it were more.

She awakened with yet another replay of the vision in her head, though thankful that she had slept. Her falling asleep by his door was unprecedented, she only intended to ease her restless soul with his own warmth. It was to her surprise that she found herself back in her room in the later hours of the foggy morning. A knocking by her door made her want to hide behind her covers.

She was, in all honesty, tormented.

The very thought of her having cursed blood on her veins,

the visions of Sesshomaru dying, over and over again,

and her own non-existent memory.

She then thought, had he opened the Scroll of Memory? She had to ask him today.

The knocking persisted, and when she did not answer, she heard the door open. The footfalls were quiet and small, that of a woman, and Kagome steeled herself before meeting her eyes.

"Sesshomaru-sama requires your presence at the breakfast table." Normally, Kagome would have jumped at the opportunity of the mention of food. How much she hated rain, that was how much she loved to eat. Whatever it was, edible, or literally even the non-edible. She paused, imagining how Fumiko would have fainted if she would decline the invitation. "Give me a minute." Kagome sat up and stole a glance at the woman before her.

To her surprise, it was not one of his perfect dolls, one of the many that he had in his collection.

The kind, wrinkled face of the older woman smiled at her gently.

Kagome reached out to the chest full of kimonos, and quietly pulled out an amber one from the batch.

 _Amber._

 _The color of Sesshomaru's eyes, the window of his soul._

"Will you spare me a little time to change?"

"No problem," the woman bowed and walked away, but paused when she reached the doorway. "Kagome-chan, can you stop by the kitchen on your way and pick up his tea?"

"Of course," Kagome answered. When she heard the doors close, she clutched the silk material in her hands tighter and brought it closer to herself, wrapping it in a desperate embrace.

She whimpered in frustration, and her tears soaked the expensive material of the kimono. Last night, when all was quiet and still and she slept by his doorway, she realized the warmth had greatly diminished.

His life energy was draining fast, like sand ebbing away in an hourglass.

She had no time to wallow over her jealousy. Yet again, she couldn't find it in her to let him go.

What was she to do? She curled up yet again into a fetal position, the amber kimono close to her heart.

what was she to do?

She buried her face in the warm amber hue, wishing for a revelation within her tears, praying for a miracle.

* * *

There was no other woman present in the tea room, and when Kagome had settled the tea before them, she was the one who poured a cup for Sesshomaru. The warlord remained casual, but he stole a glance at the quiet onna before him and continued to take a sip.

"Did you have a good night's rest, Sesshomaru-sama?" Kagome queried, from which Sesshomaru settled his cup down and replied.

"Yes."

Summoning her smile, she took a sip of her own. "I am glad."

Yet again, they were left in unnerving silence. "How was your training with Izayoi?" he asked offhandedly.

"Very well," Kagome allowed herself a small smile. Her vermilion gaze then steeled, and it drifted to his amber eyes. "Have you opened the scroll yet?"

Sesshomaru was unaccustomed to the frankness of her tone. "It does not matter." he stated, from which Kagome struggled to restrain herself .

"Why? What if you remember something critical in your past-"

"It does not matter." His voice raised, looking away.

"Sesshomaru-sama! You won't lose anything if you just-"

"Why are you so concerned about my past, Onna?!" Irked, he restrained his hands from reaching towards her pretty neck. "Such things have no effect on what happened, and will have no effect! It won't change a thing from this point on! I am already bound to the Elioud, so why?!" Sesshomaru forced his anger to simmer down. She fell silent and his gaze then again drifted to her.

Her head was cast down, unbound ebony hair hiding her face, and her hands visibly fisted her silk kimono. "I don't want..." her grip on her skirt tightened, her tears soaking on the silk. "I don't want you... to fade away from me,

not when I already have you by my side..."

Sesshomaru drew back, stunned.

 _Could she have known?_

A knock on the door cut the heavy tension. "Sesshomaru-sama, the Elioud Council is summoning you."

Sesshomaru rose from his position to follow. But before he left, he paused as he reached the crying girl.

"Then at least stay by my side, until it is all over."

He walked away.

* * *

No amount of jest from her companions could lift her spirits up. Kagome dragged on through her day as she trained under Izayoi's tutelage.

" _Then at least stay by my side, until it is all over."_

His words had tormented her to no end.

He knew he was fading.

Ayame and Miroku had seen through her misery, and so they let her have the day to herself and rest. She trudged home, at least her temporary home, and found Sesshomaru had not returned from the Elioud's summon. She found Tomoe instead, crying by the entryway to the kitchen. "Have you heard?" the woman managed, her genuine sorrow touching Kagome's almost numbed heart. When Kagome shook her head, Tomoe engulfed her into an embrace. "Our Sesshomaru-sama, he has been betrothed by the Elioud to the Youkai Princess, Kagura."

If Shamayim had slammed down on Erets, Kagome will never have noticed. Everything that was happening, had overwhelmed her to the point that her tears did not find any more reason to flow. Pulling away, she absently asked. "What did he answer?"

Tomoe sunk on the floor, covering her hands on her face. "The Elioud's words are absolute and final. He couldn't say no."

"Ah," Kagome drifted away emptily. She knew.

The Elioud, they were losing Sesshomaru. There would be no life they could leech off, and they were desperate to try anything.

 _They need an heir from him, perhaps the child could replace the beautiful soul they had sucked the life out of._

"I have to go... and take a walk, Tomoe-dono." she turned away.

She indeed walked, past the gates of his estate, past the thousand stairs, away from the Elioud's dwelling, and into the comforting softness of familiar violet flowers by her feet.

 _ ***Kagome-sama, how have you been?***_

* * *

The girl wandered for the rest of the afternoon, back into the familiar town, into winding roads and found herself at the foot of Fumiko's inn. Only a season had passed since she left for the depredation, and at that time, she was still wide-eyed and ignorant, a true child of naivete.

How she had changed, in those few weeks.

A familiar brunette fox-youkai met her gaze.

"Kagome-chan?" Kaoru's eyes flew wide at the sight of the kimono-clad woman before her. Her face was still so beautiful, such as the last time she had seen her without bandages, yet her smile held immense melancholy, and her eyes were steeled with resolute. Far from the fumbling, clumsy girl she had met, stuttering out her name. "Kaoru," she acknowledged. Kaoru took a step back, when a red-head suddenly appeared at the corner.

"Kagome," Fumiko managed, and without hesitation, engulfed her in the tightest embrace.

After much tears on her friend's part, Kagome talked to them about what happened during the depredation, omitting the details about Sesshomaru's bind, hiding the secret that only she and Asphodelus knew. She told them Sesshomaru had hired her as his personal attendant, which was partly true, and that all was well, they did not need to worry.

She noticed the sun was setting, and said her goodbyes.

She found herself standing before the lake in the border between Rune and Asphodel, to where it all started.

' _Asphodelus,from this point on, I don't know where to go, or what I should do..._

 _I have never felt... so lost...'_

Asphodelus' flowers danced ever so carefully in the afternoon breeze.

 _ ***My dearest Kagome-sama... come to me, I will hide you forever, from the things that hurt...***_

Kagome was about to answer, when an immense pain suddenly hit her, and she felt the world around her being _pulled_.

She fell on her knees.

* * *

He had come back from the Elioud's summon with the burden of betrothal on his shoulders. His mind felt like a raging storm, and he found himself seeking for that warm, comforting brush to his soul.

He realized that warmth was gone.

The door to Kagome's room slammed open, she was not in her quarters. With his anger rising, he turned only to be met with the sight of another woman. He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down.

After moments of internal struggle, he stilled. "What are you doing here, Tomoe?"

"Are you looking for your precious onna?" She asked coyly. Upon the mention, an unreadable flame lit the warlord's eyes, and the courtesan grit her teeth. She tried to fight the burning sting of rejection. "She went for a walk." she spat bitterly. "But I am here. Why would you need _her_?"

"I already disbanded the harem yesterday noon, " Sesshomaru stated, "and have paid your mistress' requests for compensation," he paused. "I have also compensated enough to bring all of you out of the status of _oiran,_ out of the tea house where the Elioud hired you from." His tall form brushed past her, but a tight grip on the back of his kimono held him back. He halted. "You could go and live quiet lives without having the need to sell your bodies again."

Tomoe's head gently rested on the broad of his back, and he felt her shaking. "Sesshomaru-sama... Last night, I thought you changed your mind, after last night-" she whimpered through tears.

"It should have ended yesterday," Sesshomaru's jaw clenched in tight restraint, reprimanding himself for his lack of control. "Last night was a weakness in my part," he admitted. "I allowed you to have your way," he pulled away, "but my decision has not changed."

The oiran finally let go and stepped back, her eyes glued to his profile.

"Why her?" she paused in between sobs, "Sesshomaru-sama, why her? You only found her three years ago, you only knew her three weeks ago..."

It was then that the Inu Warlord turned around, and the courtesan's breath hitched. Never had she seen so much regret and longing than in this moment, reflected in his golden eyes. Sesshomaru felt at loss for words, unable to tell exactly what he wanted to say.

The moment he held her close when she came back from the Baphomet's attack, he already knew.

Those vague memories had assaulted him nonstop.

He did not know her just three weeks ago.

And it was she who found him,

each and every time,

all ninety-seven lifetimes ago.

* * *

 _ ***Kagome-sama,***_ Asphodelus' illusions flickered in worry as her master fell haplessly on her knees. Kagome tried to scream but she could not, the air itself was wrung out from her lungs. The world around her was literally stretching, pulling,

this... _extraction_ she felt was so familiar,

yet so painful, her hands crushed the violet flowers clumped on the ground.

She felt as if her soul was being torn away from her body.

" _I have her,"_ a sourceless voice suddenly said out of nowhere, as tentative as the air around her, _"Shippo, Rin, I have a hold to her soul,"_

" _Sango, your summon worked?!"_ asked another familiar female voice, _"why can't I see her?"_ from which the other answered,

" _Her energy is sealed shut, therefore my hold is weak._

 _B_ _ut she will be able to hear us- hurry... before I lose my hold,"_

Kagome felt the pull tighten and she gasped, a horrible sensation rising in her throat. She finally fell on all fours and lurched, in too much in pain to even wipe the blood that forced its way violently out of her mouth.

Her vision blurred and the nausea knocked her breath away. As she blinked, she teetered between the lakeside and a blurred vision of three figures, standing in what seemed like a cherry tree.

She realized what they were doing.

They were attempting to pull her soul, along with her body, to where they were.

" _Shit, I'm losing her-"_ the girl cursed, and another violent bout of bile and blood spilled from her gut to the violet carpet of flowers, resulting from the painful extraction. _"Kagome-sama, are you well there?"_ the voice worried. _"Please... just give us a sign,_

 _just let us know that you are alright..."_

Kagome fisted the flowers underneath her hands. They knew her? But how was she supposed to even answer, with the horrible pain that rendered her blind and mute? She curled, and tried to desperately claw away at something that wanted to escape from her chest.

" _Kagome,"_ one of the figures asked again, and just when Kagome thought the world would finally tear before her own eyes, a small burst of light escaped from her chest, bounding towards the figures, leaving behind a trail of light in its wake.

The light took form into an animate: a ferret.

Her vision was dimming from the pain.

" _Thank you,"_ one of the figures cried out, _"Kami, thank you... Oka-san is safe,"_ said a male voice. Kagome closed her eyes, unable to bear the torture. The pulling was receding, and the nausea was hitting a plateau. She then saw the ferret approach her, with something tied around its neck.

" _We will eagerly await for your return._

 _Second to Elohim, our loyalty is yours forever, mefakedet."_

As sudden as the voices came, it disappeared in an instant. The pain was gradually washing away like a tide, and as Kagome's vision regained, she pushed herself from where she laid and reached out for the object that was tied to the ferret's body. The animate dissolved into slivers of light. Kagome stared at the object in her hands, and she froze in her realizations.

They had called her _'_ Mefakedet': _Commander._

And the curious object that was in her hands was a golden-amber ribbon, the same one she saw laced constantly on her hair in each flashback.

The lifetimes were not mere dreams, they were all memories.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ Sesshomaru's life is draining fast, and Kagome becomes increasingly frustrated and desperate. She finds out later that he was aware of his dwindling lifespan, as he asks her to stay " _until it is all over"._ The Elioud summons him and she finds out of his betrothal. Overwhelmed, she wanders aimlessly. Unknown to her, he had already disbanded the Oiran harem assembled by the Elioud yesterday noon. And Sesshomaru had remembered, all along, those vague lifetimes before Kagome even did.

She is summoned, but their failed attempt gave Kagome two realizations. They referred to her as their _mefakedet (commander)_ , and the amber ribbon served as proof that the visions were memories and it was real. They loved each other all ninety-seven lifetimes ago.


	19. Chapter 19: This Ninety-Eighth Lifetime

_**A/N:**_ Lemon.

 _Soul bond_ \- mate; soul mate

fragment - an isolated, incomplete part of something whole

* * *

 _ **This Ninety-Eighth Lifetime**_

* * *

Sesshomaru's ire heightened at her absence, and the thought of her having left him threw him into a disturbing fit of turmoil and restlessness. He left the confines of his estate and sought her in the neighboring properties, he tried to find her at the inn where she supposedly stayed for most of her consciousness, but it was all in vain.

She was not there.

Blinded by outrage he swore, if he would find her, he would maim her until she will not have the ability to function without him. But when he did find her by the lake in the border between Rune and Asphodel, all of his anger melted away in an instant, the scent of her blood and distress hastening his steps to reach her.

She held her hand out, and he couldn't do anything but bend to her will.

* * *

Just like the first time in that fateful night, he took her hand and pulled her into a tight embrace.

Two figures knelt across each other in the quiet confines of his quarters, the only light reaching them was the dim of the moon in the raincloud-riddled sky.

"The harem," Kagome whispered. The wooden floors creaked as he leaned closer, his hands holding her small face.

"I disbanded them." He wiped the tears unrestrained from her eyes.

"The betrothal?" she sought, and he kissed her forehead so gently,

"I told them no."

Kagome closed her eyes, reeling at the consequences. What will happen, now that he refused the Elioud? The girl clung to him, desperate for at least a semblance of hope, and his familiar warmth overwhelmed her, and she sobbed like a little child.

Sesshomaru pulled away, wiping her tears with his hands, tracing soft kisses on the outline of her face.

"Stop crying, onna.

don't remember this as one of the lifetimes where we parted with regret,"

"Sesshomaru," she whimpered desperately as he kissed her temples, trailing to the bridge of her nose, and he paused, immersing himself in her eyes which were electric blue in the darkness.

He would drown in them willingly.

He leaned forward and claimed her lips on his own, and Kagome tasted her own tears. His bold tongue prodded her mouth open, and when she timidly complied, his hand threaded through the strands of her her hair and yanked her closer , deepening the kiss. She clung to him, his taste so sweet and familiar, and she allowed herself to be immersed in the warmth that was him, answering to his call in equal desperation, in the same hunger that he showed.

As their tongues danced and explored, Kagome trembled at the heat of their bodies so close together, at the slow pooling of that different warmth and it left her breathless.

His kisses were increasingly getting rougher and more demanding, and he crushed her body so close that there was no possible space between them, his hands skimming through the thin material of her yukata. He was devouring her, consumed by the staggering ache he felt, a painful throbbing that he knew only this woman could satiate.

Ravishing her lips was not enough, he slid her sleeve down and nipped at her bare shoulder, trailing up to the crook of her neck, sucking to where her energy pulsed, and Kagome gasped, stunned at her own desire.

He took her by the waist and ground her hips down, making her aware of his hardened arousal. An inevitable moan escaped her lips.

From her neck he worshiped her curves, laving at her soft skin, Kagome shuddering as his tongue left behind a trail of fire, burning as he sucked on her throat, hands expertly parting her yukata.

The woman shook at the chill of the cold night on her bare chest, and he did not waste a single moment, he assaulted the stiffened peaks of her nipples with his hungry mouth.

She quivered and he growled, restraining her hands firmly as she unconsciously pushed away from the sweet torture. She did not notice him shift several moments as he teased on the other peak, she did not notice her back pressing against the wooden floor.

His golden eyes were heavy with lust, unbound white hair like a curtain that shielded them from the outside world, isolating them, only her and him, the miserable world around them disappearing in the background.

He hissed as his fingers invaded the slit between her legs, relishing at her female arousal that dripped down his hands, his fingers thrusting, her moans increasingly desperate in between their kisses.

"Sesshomaru," she sought, and he dipped down, crushing her lips, trailing down to the valley of her breasts, and his other hand teased the taut peak in torture.

"My onna," he whispered as he watched her sigh, spreading her legs and claimed a taste of her womanly nectar that he himself brought about. Kagome writhed and her legs bucked, and he could feel the walls of her core squeeze and tighten in his embedded fingers and tongue.

The strong appendage swirled inside her womanhood, lapping at her arousal for him, his hungry tongue darting forward, coiling and penetrating and feasting on her, his woman.

He withdrew, Kagome whimpering her protest. Without giving her enough time to recover, he impaled his engorged cock into her sheath, burying deeply into the hilt. Kagome fisted her hands through his silken hair and her back arched, jolting from the intense euphoria his familiar girth felt inside her. The pleasure from his deep penetration only heightened when he started thrusting without restraint.

He rammed his sword in the flesh of her hot folds, skin slapping against skin, and Kagome raised her hips to meet his wanton manhood.

Her lover grunted, she felt his cock twitching from inside her as his shaft was rubbing deep into her slit, pummeling into her, filling her insides until all she could think of was the wonderful fulfillment she was so nearly reaching.

She could not hold back her moans, and he was already pushing into his limits. Kagome's hands raked his back and cried out his name, the world seemingly shattering around her. Sesshomaru slammed against her, pumping deep inside as he felt her walls spasm and clench his throbbing cock.

He released inside her, filling her with his warm seed, his come spilling out on the loose material of her kimono.

He collapsed above her and she entwined her hands around him, not letting go.

They lay in each others arms in silence, his manhood still impaled inside her, the sound of his panting lulling her to sleep.

* * *

He kissed her yet again. A bitter taste was left in her lips, but she did not mind. He was saying something, and she had to listen.

She had to stay awake.

"I have a gift for you, Onna," he said, golden eyes locking with hers. Kagome suddenly felt so drowsy, and she struggled to fight it.

Why was she so abnormally drowsy?

"When the day breaks, go to my room, inside my drawer you will find a jade box. Open it, it is yours to keep."

"Sesshomaru-sama," she whispered as her eyes closed, and he dipped down again to capture her lips on his, very softly. The bitter aftertaste was there again, and she realized.

He was slipping small doses of his innate poison to disable her to sleep.

"No," she whispered in her utter bewilderment, and images of his ninety-seven deaths flashed in her mind, "Sesshomaru, no..." she trailed off, her tongue numbing as the spell forced upon her eyelids.

She shook her head in disbelief, her body unable to move, remaining helplessly limp as the scene unfolded before her very eyes.

"Onna, if there is another lifetime,

Promise me you will find me,

relentless, until I am in your arms again..."

"Sesshomaru, please..." She struggled to keep her eyes open as she felt his nimble fingers wipe a stray tear from her cheek.

"No matter how stubborn I am, I beg you this time,

I want to spend eternity with you."

Her grip weakened and her vision wavered, but she refused to let him go,

"Promise me," he pleaded, drowning on her eyes, regretting the familiar scent of her tears.

"Kagome, promise me."

"Please," she begged, "no..." She shook her head in fruitless denial, the heavy spell of sleep claiming her body, leaving behind a streak of tears.

Sesshomaru held her close.

She had always cried for him,

just like how he left her, this time, ninety-eight lifetimes past.

* * *

The downpour was heavy in Asphodel that night, and Kagome woke up, groggy with his poison, confused and overwhelmed as ever before. But she forced herself to stand, staggering like a drunk, her blue eyes fuzzy and blurred from the lack of moonlight and ill effects.

She was back in her quarters, he had long left. She could hear a dragging sound from Sesshomaru's room. Cruising like a child who had just learned to walk, she leaned on the walls in order to reach her own door, wincing at the dagger-like pain her body had slammed her with.

They were taking him away.

She slid her door open, and indeed they were there, two high level soldiers with a limp, unconscious Inu Warlord, the once proud warrior bound and subjugated. His eyes were closed with an abnormal slumber. The soldiers were snickering to each other, dragging him on the ground as if he had nothing of worth.

"Oi, did he have a visitor? I thought he dissolved his harem," one of the soldiers said as he saw her standing by her doorway, and he stepped back as she emptily made her way towards them.

Kagome, in her eyes, walked into the heavy downpour the night of Asphodel always brought, but she did not mind.

How she hated rain...

But thinking of him, made her feel so happy.

" _It was raining when I met you,"_ her flashback tormented her, and all of her visions had started with the same phrase,

 _"I have been looking for you."_

Was she doomed to not remember? But she would not lose him this time. She had a feeling lodged deep in her gut.

 _There was something different,_

 _in his ninety-eighth lifetime..._

"O-oi. Ojou-chan," the soldier stared at her eerie, incandescent blue eyes. "Who is she?" he sought his companion as she was slowly approaching.

"Must be his woman," the other soldier chuckled as she neared,

"The one he refused the betrothal for?" he eyed her with malice from head to toe. "Fuck, I could see why." The other soldier brushed past him and raised his sword against her.

He struck, plunging the sword in the middle of her chest, straight through her beating heart. A grin spread across his lips as he pulled the sword, her blood spilling into the ground in great amounts, pooling in her feet.

As the blood drained, Kagome's knees lost whatever strength was left and slumped to the ground, under the heavy rainfall.

She could hear their amused voices grow smaller, Sesshomaru's warmth was being dragged farther and farther away from her.

Kagome took in her last breath.

* * *

The temple on top of the hill was intensely quiet, in the middle were four binding posts, made specifically for him, the celestial fragment that fell from the sky fifty years ago. His white figure remained unconscious and bound, his eyes closed and probably will remain in slumber until the last sliver of life energy will have been drained.

Twenty hooded figures surrounded him, all kneeling calmly around, unmoving like statues, very much like the undead.

The remnants of Sesshomaru's life energy cackled and frayed against the muck of their aura, resisting their cursed existence.

"We have a good ten years more before his celestial energy exhausts," one Elioud stated, "but my recent findings prove it. His ties to the Dark Void is unlike our own, it was created without anomaly."

"Then there is a chance that he can pass his power. We shall extract that blood, and then drain him completely. We will transfer that energy in my reservoir." the elder said so calmly, a smirk on his wrinkled lips. "We are just giving him what he wanted, right? He said he'd rather die than cooperate with us." The council nodding their heads solemnly.

"What if he wakes up?"

"He won't. Not anymore. His consciousness is to the point that only a soul bond can revive. But that is impossible. A _fragment_ like him, no one would even bother a glance."

* * *

Moments turned into hours, and the lifeless body of the woman, who laid in her own pool of blood, suddenly shifted.

She gasped in a breath of life.

Kagome laid still, underneath the heavy downpour, her senses slowly regaining.

 _Although I do not remember myself,_

 _I remember him._

 _There was something different, something special, in his ninety-eighth lifetime..._

Her eyes flashed an intense vermilion even in the darkness.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ Sesshomaru disbanded the harem. He refused the Elioud's orders to procreate with the youkai princess. He remembers their ninety-seven goodbyes. Kagome realizes all this, but she is put in an involuntary sleep by Sesshomaru so she may not witness the moment when they take him away. She fought the poison, and is initially "killed".

The Elioud bind the unconscious Sesshomaru. There is mention of him being a _'fragment'_ with celestial energy and non-anomalous ties to the Dark Void. They plan on extracting that blood, and drain his celestial energy after to keep for themselves to use, in his life's expense.

Kagome wakes up, still not remembering herself, but her gut feeling that this lifetime was special gives her resolve.


	20. Chapter 20: The Last Fragment

_**A/N:**_ Thanks for staying. :) _Italicized_ is Kagome's thoughts.

* * *

 _ **The Last Fragment**_

* * *

The rain washed away her blood, draining in great amounts from her still-repairing body, flowing like a steady stream downward the thousand steps. It reached the foot of the hill, and the immortal Asphodelus despaired.

Her master's precious blood was soaking into the dirt ground.

The Jotun dropped all her illusions to gather her strength. With the entirety of Asphodel under a heavy downpour, her roots tensed, and from the ends of her tendrils she forced herself to regenerate. New vines and flowers crept up the stairs, untroubled by the taste of thick malice that the Elioud's presence gave off.

It was to her surprise, when she reached the gates of an estate where the blood was the heaviest, to find her master standing on both feet, steadily on the ground, a broken sword on her hand.

Her eyes were an unearthly deep vermilion despite the lack of light. "Did my blood bother you?" Kagome asked, the mere tone of her voice so different from what Asphodelus was used to.

 _ ***No, there is no curse in it. You are able to control your blood's will.***_

"I surmised." she answered. "I will be more careful with my intentions next time. I will not be cursing anyone into the Dark Void." The blood from the wound in her chest was slowly receding.

* _ **From the amounts of blood that reached me, I thought you perished.***_

Asphodelus earned a chuckle from the woman. "I have the notorious reputation of coming back from the dead."

 _ ***Kagome-sama,***_

Kagome clutched Sesshomaru's broken wakizashi tighter. "No, I don't remember anything about myself yet. But someone whispered to me, when I teetered in my own unconscious. It was not Sesshomaru,

but someone else... someone too familiar. He told me to not to fear, for I am right where I want to be."

She strapped the wakizashi in her obi, to where the small blade was hidden in the material's folds.

"I remember, Asphodelus, what was so special about his ninety-eighth lifetime. It is his final fragment."

Kagome shifted her gaze uphill, towards the temple. "The familiar voice, he told me: the Elioud and their terrible reign, I can end it. I can end it before day breaks, if I wanted to." She moved forward, but paused. "Stay there, unless I call you."

Kagome did not want to stain Asphodelus with her blood.

* * *

The twenty Elioud had circled the sleeping Sesshomaru's form, having already started the ritual of bloodletting. There was a sickening gash on his throat, from where blood was trickling out, controlled by the mere magic of the cursed clan. Their leader, who stood before the doomed warlord, hovered a hand over the exposed wound and a silver thread glistened under the light of his spell.

He took a step back, shocked. "His soul," he started, and the remaining Elioud leaned forward in anticipation. "He is bonded. He shares a soul bond to someone.."

The wooden doors opened with a jolting bang, and from the shadows emerged the bloody form of Kagome. She was drenched in rain, her thin yukata indecent and tattered. She staggered forward in slow, careful steps. Her eyes scanned the room before her. Five magically-able, high-level soldiers on the doorway, and twenty Elioud. They were old, with their wrinkled faces, weary eyes and pruned hands.

But their aura was formidable. She planted her feet on the ground firmly, bracing the tremble that was threatening in her spine. "Get your nasty hands off him."

"The Inu's woman!" The soldier from earlier blurted out from the side. "I thought I killed her earlier!"

Kagome lurched forward, and two soldiers appeared from each side. The guard held Kagome's hair from the back of her head and slammed her face into the ground, another summoning a ribbon bind that came shooting out.

Kagome struck the palm of her hand on the floor and buckled her legs, hoisting the soldier who held her head down, effectively knocking him back and narrowly avoided the binds. She darted away from the two.

"Seize her," The main Elioud commanded. Another soldier struck his sword, a rush of deadly stone spikes tore through the wooden floor. With little effort Kagome raised her bare hands and blocked the spikes and it shattered before her, her skin rupturing in splinter wounds. Her eyes narrowed from another surprise that materialized before her- two soldiers, swords raised to strike.

She evaded the strike in a split second, stealing the soldier's sword and struck with a powerful blow on his back.

With two fingers she drew in the air, binding ribbons appeared, exactly like theirs. The ribbons shot haphazardly across the second soldier's hands and he was pulled to his knees. A powerful spell of subjugation: he opened his mouth in astonishment as color had drained from his cheeks, entire strength leaving him.

"Monster..." The soldier spat out.

Kagome stepped back in retaliation. The remaining soldiers consolidated, creating a human barrier between her and the Elioud. "Get out of my way, " She warned.

The soldiers lunged at the same time. She skirted through her attackers, delivering a blow the third soldier's midsection. She mercilessly bashed the fourth soldier's head and twisted and detached the fifth one's arm, his sword falling with a clang on the floor.

Two Eliouds appeared before her, but she was enveloped in a bright light. She disappeared into a portal, reappearing before one of the nobles and grabbed him by the neck.

Kagome sliced her own arm, leaving a streak of dark blood on the deadly metal, and she plunged it into the Elioud's throat. Blood spattered on her face, and she only watched in an eerie calm as she allowed her ill will to manifest into her blood.

It was then that the silent Elioud witnessed their deepest, most anomalous desires come to life: the struck clansman convulsed from the condemnation of a hundred forbidden curses.

Their lips curled into a malicious smile.

Torrents of binding ribbons shot from every direction, all imbued with ten times the amount of subjugation. Kagome tore loose and spun around, leaping towards another clan member.

Without any hesitation, she beheaded the elder.

The dismembered head landed in a thump on the wooden floor, the headless body slumping on the ground.

The thick, sanguine liquid pooled on Kagome's bare feet.

The binding ribbons yet again seized her extremities, but before she tried to rip away again,"Are you sure you want to do that?" came the baiting voice of their leader. The woman turned around, and her eyes widened. He was holding a blade across Sesshomaru's throat.

Her teeth clenched. She steeled herself for another teleportation but the Elioud chuckled.

"If you are able to kill ten of us, our Ill Will combined will create a gateway to the Dark Void, and chains will drag you into its depths." Kagome then saw the vision of the night with the Baphomets, their colossal bodies imploding in her own blood from heavy, gigantic chains.

His baited smile challenged her. "Precious Matriarch, it's no use. You will be condemned into the Dark Void even before you are able to kill us all." He noticed the woman's sudden stillness. He smirked... She was complying.

"Now shall we continue?" With a flick of his wrist, he stopped the blood letting. But then he summoned another spell, to Kagome's ire. He was starting with the fast draining of Sesshomaru's energy.

Kagome's fists shook. They were indeed wicked...

And immensely selfish. Her stillness had indicated her consensus: They knew they already had her.

So why would they continue to drain him, then, if they already had their Matriarch?!

Their selfishness... how she despised them. How her blood boiled,

how her very soul shook in loathing.

How stupid it was for the Commander of Shamayim to show them mercy, for they truly deserved to be willed to extinction.

"Do it." She suddenly said.

The Elder's eyes cast a glance on the woman, and he dropped his hands, dropping the spell. She was holding a broken wakizashi across her throat.

She was threatening to take her own life.

"Do it. You kill him, you lose me.

So go ahead... do it."

He stared in disbelief at the woman, but her vermilion eyes were steeled. She pressed the blade against her skin, drawing blood. The Elioud audience leaned forward, cringing at the sight of the precious sanguine she was wasting. When Kagome was sure that the main Elder stopped the ritual, she lowered the sword.

"If I am to be your Matriarch,

I am not the one to bend to your will. Your pathetic selves should be on your knees."

The binds on her person eased away, and the nobles begrudgingly complied, kneeling in prostration. "Do not fast-drain him further." Kagome commanded firmly, and the main elder stepped back. He bowed his head. "If that is what our Matriarch wishes."

"Now tell me... how deep you bound his energy to your clan. Tell me everything."

* * *

"We drifted into this rift a hundred years ago, resigned to the fate that Michiel had unfairly condemned us with." The Elioud started, and Kagome, who had sat before them with the slumbering Sesshomaru on her lap, couldn't help but grit her teeth.

 _Unfair? You pests should have been wiped off the face of Erets forever._

"I was a mere infant at that time when the Commander of Shamayim came and delivered judgment. And so time passed, and our mortality was our own demise. We tried countless experimentation- to youkai, faery, humans... even celestials, to try and pass on our precious cursing blood, and ultimately have our revenge on that commander who reduced our proud clan to sniveling, hiding animals."

 _The commander gave you a chance to redeem your souls. Yet after all these years, all you seek for is revenge? How many beautiful souls have you destroyed?_

"Until one day fifty years ago, a being fell from the sky into the lake between the borders of Rune and Asphodel. This... being held a great amount of celestial energy. We would have just killed him then, for even when he held such power, it was no use to us. Our numerous experimentations to other celestials had failed.

And he is a mere fragment. His soul is scattered throughout different dimensions and times, not meant to be found, not meant to be completed."

 _But I searched for him... throughout dimensions I collected each and every fragment._

"But when we started to snuff out his life, we noticed one anomaly: his soul, although celestial in nature, had unseen ties to the Dark Void. We had to research him further. And because of his connection, it served as a hook to anchor our mortality to his energy. It was amazing, we were able to use his life as a source for our own. And when our blood mixed with his, it introduced our malice into his system, triggering his own Blood of Ill Will."

Kagome shifted. "The lake. Was it always like that?"

"No. When he fell in the lake, we figured there was a rift directly above it. So we thought... from wherever he came from, surely there would be more? So we impregnated the lake with our strongest curse, to drain and rob any other celestial energy that comes across it."

Kagome's eyes narrowed. _So it only affects celestial energy._

She remembered the moment she fell into the lake, how it burned her entire body, how it tried to drain her soul. _Was that what happened? Did they try to steal my life energy?_

 _Then why did it fail?_

"But still, it was no use. All other celestials that fell into the trap, we could not bind. They had no connections to the Dark Void. And so we fell back to the original plan and use him as our life source, until we finish our research with his own ties."

"But you already have your Matriarch." Kagome ran her hands gently through Sesshomaru's soft hair. "Release him. You don't need him anymore." With a bitter taste in her tongue, she stated, "He only has less than ten years left to himself. Your bind to him is draining his life slowly, and with that, he may not even last one."

It was then that the Elioud grinned, a chilling smirk that made Kagome shudder in loathing. "Precious Matriarch, when the bind to his energy was created, we made the terms permanent. The only way to unbind him is to kill all of us Elioud."

The audience gloated in her silence. The Elder cast his sight on the woman, expecting her to be in a desperate state. It was to his surprise that her eyes remained steeled. It still held that eerie calm.

 _He told me I can end it before day breaks, if I wanted to._

Kagome bent down and planted a tender kiss on Sesshomaru's lips. Hovering to his ears, she whispered so quietly, _"And that is what I plan to do. Wait for me."_

Kagome rose from her position, gently laying his head on the floor.

"Where are you going?" one of the clan said. Not even bothering to look behind, she merely paused.

"For a walk."

The elder deliberated at the odd timing of her activity. "Very well then. We shall make our preparations for your binding to us. Come back before the day breaks."

* * *

She had reached Sesshomaru's estate. _***Kagome-sama, the blood- ***_ Asphodelus worried on the sight of her form, and the malice emanating from the Elioud's sanguine. How was her master even able to walk with the weight of the curses?

"They said they will bind me to them," Kagome informed her calmly as she reached the gate.

 _ ***Do you fear?***_

"No. The voice that whispered to me, I trust him." She held her gaze up, to the heavens. The rain was receding, and the twilight sky was showing light. It was almost daybreak. "I know that I trust him, more than anything else, even more than myself."

She proceeded to enter the estate, past her own room, into his. She opened the door, the scent of their sex from earlier still wafting in her nose. She saw her yellow ribbon lying neglected on the floor, images of their lovemaking flashed in her mind.

Somehow, she had searched for him throughout the millennia, in between different dimensions. She had been collecting his fragments, waiting for him to surrender his soul to her in the brink of his death.

That was why her memories were filled with him in his last moments.

But this ninety-eighth lifetime was different. This time, she did not need him to die. This time, he should live. It was his core soul, where his true nature was revealed; the only fragment where his celestial energy had manifested. His body was also his final vessel, to house all other ninety-seven fragments.

Once his soul was to be completed, he would have lived as a celestial, an immortal watcher from Shamayim.

But now, his core soul was already bound and plundered by the Elioud.

He was still fated to die.

" _I have a gift for you, Onna."_ his parting words reverberated in the immense silence. Kagome strode forward to his dresser and opened a drawer. In the very corner was a jade box. She ran her fingers through it gingerly. _"Open it, it is yours to keep."_

When her hand reached the lock, it clicked open, and when she lifted the lid, she found a piece of old parchment. The material was old, the language was even older. But she understood it, and it simply said,

"I lift the veil that has been clouding your memory,

I unlock the spell that has been hindering your mind."

It suddenly dawned on her.

She had just read the contents of the Scroll of Memory. He did not use it, he saved it for her. And in that moment, everything rushed into her, and she finally remembered.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Long**_ Summary?

Kagome seems to be unaffected by death, and she has superior control over her blood's intentions. Someone encourages her in her lowest point, she gains confidence and attacks the Elders directly. Being able to kill two elders reveals her connections to the Void, but she is stopped. If she kills more than ten elders, she will be dragged into the dark void, very much like what happened to the baphomets - and she will forever lose the chance to unbind Sesshomaru.

Sesshomaru is a fragmented soul, his pieces scattered in different dimensions and timelines, and Kagome has been collecting these pieces throughout the millennia. His ninety-eighth lifetime is his core, and it is his final body. But his core is already bound by the clan, and the only way to break the bind is to kill all of the Elioud, which leads us back to the same problem: if she does it, she will be dragged into the void before even killing half of them.

Even then she does not seem to lose hope, trusting in that someone's message. She finds Sesshomaru's parting gift and opens it. It is the Scroll of Memory, and she finally remembers everything.


	21. Chapter 21: The Commander of Shamayim

_**A/N:**_ waahh, your theories are more complicated than mine! Trust me, the real reason for everything is nothing sinister. It has everything to do with faith. Again, don't think too much. You might find out, it may not be as complicated as you think.

 **Warning:** graphic violence up ahead. Here you go.

* * *

 _ **The Commander of Shamayim**_

* * *

 _I finally know why I hated rain._

Kagome lifted her sights to the receding downpour, allowing the now light drizzle to fall on her bloodstained face. She had to smile at her own foolishness. How could she forget? She closed her eyes and her memory transported her to that forsaken place where it perpetually rained. Dark, empty... lonely.

 _But everything changed,_

 _the moment I met him. It all started from there._

She opened her eyes, vermilion shifting back into electric blue. She had a few hours until daybreak, before she could finish it all. And that was more than enough. She shifted her gaze to the flowers at her feet. "Asphodelus, I need you to do something for me."

 _ ***Anything for you, Kagome-sama.***_ The Jotun's vines stretched and writhed in anticipation upon hearing the tone and presence of her master's voice. It was different, entirely different from the naive, questioning girl that she had to protect.

It was how her master had spoken to her, two thousand years ago.

"I need you to create an illusion of an immense fire, all the way to the foot of the hill. That way we can drive the denizens of Asphodel away from this place,

while I deal with the Elioud."

* _ **Consider it done, Kagome-sama.***_ Her tendrils glowed, and Asphodelus' flowers shuddered. In the dim of the twilight sky, her violet flowers bloomed, the small buds opening to the will of her master, and the Jotun released her most potent fragrance, the mist rising in small capsules of light, breaking off into the air.

The neighboring estates stirred, and screams filled the air. In moments the quiet hill broke and transitioned into a mass pandemonium, with people running away from their dwellings, evacuating the hill, watching in disbelief as everything they owned was being engulfed with flames.

Her master stood, unperturbed from all the chaos, and Asphodelus beamed proudly as Kagome smiled . "You've done well, child." She bent down to pick up the flower offered to her. "Tell me honestly, when I was the blundering idiot with no memory, was I such a nuisance?"

 _ ***I almost... Kagome-sama, if you put it that way-***_

To her embarrassment, her master laughed, a distant, mirthful laugh, and Asphodelus did not mind if it was in her expense.

Her laughter brought the Jotun an intense feeling of nostalgia, back when she was still a little bud. And her Kagome-sama's smile was that same eerie calm, it was a smile that only the passage of time could temper. It was then that Asphodelus realized that Kagome was just as immortal as she was, but the lilt of her master's voice, the confidence of her very presence had told of her primordial age, and the weight of her unbound energy spoke immense volumes to what she truly was:

a creature far more superior than her.

"Be wary of my call. Stay by the perimeter, only come when I summon you. I can control my blood's intentions, but there is no telling with the human clan." Kagome looked up, to the top of the hill where the temple was situated. She pondered in summoning aids from her own army, but she did not want to risk staining them with the Elioud's cursing blood.

She started her way towards the waiting lot.

* * *

The shoji doors slid open, and all eyes were on the woman drenched with indelible blood. It was only then that they realized how eerily sedate she had been all the time, unaffected with the weight of two hundred forbidden curses on her.

And they realized, the moment she entered the room, there was something different. They decided to ignore the ominous warning to their aura. "How was your walk?"

"The flowers were beautiful." she answered as she stepped on the floor, soaking the wood with water. She continued walking leisurely, making her way towards the circle. Their hackles stood at the nonchalance of her strides.

"Flowers?" one of the Elioud prodded.

"Yes, the violet flowers of Asphodelus." she brandished her sword serenely, the Elders were taken aback in alarm. "But it is sad, that you are not able to see her." She stopped in front of an elder. "I can't believe I am saying this... but I have made a mistake," she grabbed the Elder by the throat. "I shouldn't have been lenient."

She drove her sword through the Elioud's heart. "Foolish me. At least I am here to correct it."

The Elders sprang to their feet, another torrent of binding ribbons flung at the woman's direction. A sudden explosion of blood again filled their eyes, yet another Elder was dismembered- this time his torso smashed from an unseen maul. They stood there, paralyzed in sheer terror.

The woman was standing in the corner of the room, vainly cleaning the edge of her blade with the loose material of her wet yukata. "Ah, but your blood has stained my sword, I forgot it was indelible." Her electric blue eyes suddenly pierced through them. "Such filthy blood. I'll remind myself to get a new one after this." She tapped her feet and disappeared, her inhuman speed impossible to comprehend. She reappeared smack over another Elioud and plowed her sword mercilessly in the crown of his head, impaling the old man, his cursing blood exploding in her form, her eyes the steady detachment that only immortality can render. They both crashed on the wooden floor. "Fifteen," she said thoughtfully. The Elioud trembled.

"Kagome-sama, what are you trying to do?" The main Elioud pulled away cautiously, his staff glowing as he conjured a summon.

"Don't call me that," she said as she rose. "Only the ones in my intimate circle are allowed to call me that." She pulled the sword from the skull of the elder. "I have allowed you your way for a long time. It ends now." A sudden growl erupted from the corner, and Kagome abandoned her position as she birched to the side and tried to evade. The elder had summoned a bull youkai, and as she balked to fend off the beast, a sharp sensation shot through her back as she realized another bull had just sunk its teeth on her flesh. Two more of the beasts smashed through the walls and crammed inside towards the individual figure, mauling and crushing her form, attempting to tear through her fragile-looking flesh.

They only ended up convulsing on the floor. The woman stood up, yanking the powerful jaws of the beast that clamped on her torso open and away from her. She advanced to the nearest Elioud and flogged her sword but it met great resistance- a barrier was erected between them.

She pound the hilt of her sword relentless, each blow more powerful than the last, and the final clout shattered the invisible barrier. Cleanly she drove the metal into yet another Elder.

"Aren't you afraid of the Void?!" the Elder dropped in disbelief as he watched her hacking away at his lesser clansmen. It was clear that no amount of subjugation can bind her now, and their cursed blood held no threat to her.

"Afraid of the Void?" she echoed when she reached another elder. Immediately, heavy chains shot out and writhed around her form. She had reached ten elders. But it did not drag her down, as expected.

"I come from the Void." she paused. "When your ancestor asked for a drop of my blood, I generously gave it to save her miserable, short life. But she became greedy."

"You are..."

"The last Glutton, the source of your precious sanguine. Then I was lenient, and too trusting. Even if you defied Kami's will, I was still lenient. I gave you a chance to redeem yourselves." She stood in front of another Elioud, and raised her sword.

She struck without another word. _Nine._

"Kagome-sama-" the leader tried to appeal, but her expression was hard to read. She remained detached and distant, her eyes melancholic and the eerie smile plastered on her calm face.

"Tsk. I told you not to call me that." _Eight. Seven._

"Who are you," The Elioud whispered in panic as she was nearing him. It was odd, how for so many years he felt he was invincible, yet at this moment, they were being crushed like mere ants, rendered powerless. Their spells were deflected, dissolving in her mere energy.

 _Six._ "When I fell into the lake, my energy immediately recognized the threat. It sealed all my offensive energy shut, and along with my memory... so that no one can steal it. You see, I was given a special gift, I can channel Kami's energy directly, and that power alone is for one to borrow when needed, and not to hoard... imagine what could happen if it fell into your hands?"

 _Five._

The Elder's disgust rose from his throat at the sheer violence he was witnessing before him. He shuddered, coming to a realization. He had seen that sword before. He had heard that voice before. He needed confirmation. "Who are you?"

"I am known by many names in different dimensions. Yet in all of the hierarchies I hold one position."

She bashed the head of an elder with the hilt of her sword, fracturing his skull. She speared his throat to spare him from longer suffering. _Four._

Taking the bloodied sword from the hollow of his cartilage she carved the blade into the back of another elder, his lungs immediately filling up with blood. He fell on the ground, gurgling for air. _Three._ "My conditions were to not use your blood, or else you die by my sword." Unceremoniously she struck again into the chest of another. _Two._

She stood before the last Elioud, who had knelt beside the unconscious Sesshomaru. His eyes widened in realization, at just who was standing before him.

"In this dimension I am known by the name of Michiel, Commander of Shamayim." she raised her sword to deliver her final blow. "You have gone against the will of Kami. Judgment to your bodies has been delivered through me... He will be the one to judge your soul."

Her eyes narrowed.

"I pray you get what you deserve."

The last Elioud snickered, and the ground beneath them rumbled. Giant vines sprang forth from the earth and entwined around Sesshomaru's form, and it grew, and grew, until he was out of reach, high up in the air. The vines held similar violet flowers, except that the blooms were bigger.

An older plant Jotun, just like Asphodelus.

For a while the commander paused. "Asphodelus?" she queried, and her faithful Jotun, upon hearing the summon, crept to her master timidly, curling in her feet.

 *** _Not me, Kagome-sama... I would never betray you-*_**

Kagome merely smiled. "I was not implying such. I was going to ask you to catch my Sesshomaru for me." She eyed calmly at the other visitor, a gigantic brass and stone Titan, rampaging in the small hill, destroying the temple they were at.

 _ ***catch?***_

Before Asphodelus could even comprehend, her master had already opened a portal before her and she dashed inside, the gateway disappearing and immediately opened right above the other Plant Jotun's core. The opposing vines flung at her, attempting to seize and constrict. With an immense explosion of force, the odd protrusion on Kagome's back ruptured, and she spread her six wings, spanning abnormally larger than all other celestial.

A geometric vector opened below her, and she thrust her sword inside.

Tens of portals opened before the Jotun.

In one thrust the sword materialized through the many gateways, carving through the plant Jotun's heart. The Plant Jotun's vines immediately released Sesshomaru, and he came crashing down, but he was caught in the safety of another set of vines- Asphodelus.

Kagome closed the portals and landed on the ground. She shook.

 _ ***Kagome-sama,***_ Asphodelus asked in concern, for her master knelt still, holding the bloodied sword for support, trembling as the Titan strode towards her.

Her wings took a darker color.

 _ ***Kagome-sama...***_ The wings suddenly withered and dissolved, and her master lifted her head up. Her eyes again flickered red, and as the Titan positioned to fling its gigantic hand to crush her form, she suddenly ruptured.

From her small shell, out burst a monstrous beast, and Asphodelus couldn't help but tremble.

She was bigger than the Titan, which was already monstrous in size. The monsterthat faced the Titan screeched in dominance, its jaws snapping in warning to back off. Horns that curled outward, a spine jutting grotesquely out of her abnormally horrifying body, visible ribs curling into her draped chest. Heavy chains tried to drag her down, the curse of Ill Will constricting on her form but it did not impede the speed of her movement. With a single swipe, her gigantic claws mauled the Titan as if it were a mere plaything, and it held it down on the ground as it located the titan's head for easier swallowing of the limbs.

It then opened its jaws and it _unhinged,_ taking the giant into its mouth, continuing to expand around the beast, assisted by powerful jaw and throat muscles until it eventually consumed the entire creature.

She had just swallowed the Titan whole.

The first ray of daybreak threatened through the sky, and the last Elioud knelt trembling in front of the monster before him. The Glutton morphed back easily into her humanoid form, shrugging off the sensation of chains on her naked body. She stood in front of him, her sword materializing in her hand. Her wings shimmied as it stretched its entire span.

"I would have eaten you, to save me from this annoying bloodstain...

but even I, who's stomach can tolerate anything, find your appeal quite disgusting."

Her sword struck, and the last Elioud slumped to the ground.

"Asphodelus... it is over."

She strode towards her sleeping mate, a content smile playing on her lips. "After four millennia of searching, it is finally over." With the bond of his soul to the Elioud finally broken, she replenished his depleted celestial energy with hers. She smiled as he stirred, his warmth coming back, soothing her exhausted presence. "Koi... I kept my promise. Now wake up and fulfill yours."

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ The last living glutton and Commander of Shamayim fell into the rift, straight into the Elioud's lake. The direct access to Kami's energy immediately recognized the threat and sealed all her offensive powers away in attempts of self-preservation, sealing her memory along with it. But now she has remembered, and she finally concluded her judgment on the wicked clan, and broke the bond that enslaved her mate to them. She replenishes his energy, and waits for him to wake.


	22. Chapter 22 : To Where It All Began

_**A/N:**_ This is a long chapter. I am putting this note here so as not to ruin the mood later. Thanks, and I hope that by this time, most of your questions have been answered. There will be an epilogue after this chapter. We can't part with such a bittersweet ending.

* * *

 _ **To Where It All Began**_

* * *

 _ **-Circa 0001, The Great Transition,**_

 _ **Four Thousand Years Ago-**_

 _Darkness..._

 _Empty. In this world where it perpetually rains, what is the purpose of me being here?_

 _This hunger..._

 _it is never satiated..._

 _I wish this would all be over... I am suffering,_

 _oh how I am suffering._

The Glutton opened her eyes to a familiar torture. This dark place where time and dimension did not exist, it was where she was born, and where she will be doomed to wither away. Her monstrous form lumbered through the darkness, the heavy downpour sucking her very energy. The hunger was debilitating.

 _I am... suffering..._

A specter appeared from beside her. Another creature like her, but with a much leaner form. It was clear that he had not eaten for a stretch of time. The feast of Old Gods and Daiyoukai had long gone, what was left were mere scraps thrown at the forsaken place of perpetual darkness and rain. The other creature hovered near. "You... you ate the Old Thunder god. What did he taste like?" He licked his lips, jaws snapping at the mere thought of the old god that was so difficult to overpower.

She remembered the whole ordeal. She chained him with her blood so it could not escape: it was innate to them, they needed their blood to bind such powerful entities to the Dark Void. And the immense power they were equipped with, it was enough, but barely, compared to the old gods. But she was able to get by, all because of the intense, terrible hunger.

It was the thunder god and the god of the underworld she had last consumed, and they were the last high-level energy left.

Now, they were left with nothing.

The other creature fleed, sensing her quiet.

 _Nothing is happening anymore,_ she thought in the deafening silence. _Nothing... is happening..._

She cried in the downpour. Surely, they were created only for such a terrible purpose, leaving them no choice but to devour anything in sight? They were sentient beings, equipped with intense emotions, but this hunger, this never ending hunger,

why would they be punished to suffer such hunger?

Did Kami really will them to suffer from an innate need? What had they done to deserve such fate?

She was growing senseless with hunger.

 _I'm so hungry... so very hungry, yet_

 _Nothing is happening anymore..._

In the darkness, an amber light caught her eye.

With weakened limbs she crawled to the source, and as she neared the warmth she felt her loneliness wash away. "Beautiful," she said, breathless. The light hovered near, and it bathed her with an intense, comforting warmth that was unlike any other. "What is your name?"

"Sesshomaru," the light answered, and she huddled closer, warming herself in the proximity of his heat.

"What are you?"

"I am a celestial soul, created for the realm of Shamayim." He settled on her hand as she slowly morphed to a more compact form, one that the old gods took when they walked the earth with the mortals.

"Why are you in this forsaken place?" she whispered in the darkness, her face illuminated by his light.

"When the transition happened, it seems that I strayed."

"So you are lost?" she cried yet again, unable to process such overwhelming emotions. Elohim- he was not all as cold as she thought he was. Surely, for him having created such a beautiful being, there would be beauty, and forgiveness, and warmth.

She was unable to restrain herself.

"Why are you crying?" She felt his hands carefully wiping away the tears spilling down her cheeks. She looked up, and he had taken form. Amber was the color of the window of his soul, and he extended his warmth towards her, and wrapped her with his own soul, obliterating her hatred towards her creator, tearing away the immense loneliness she felt.

"Because I am happy."

"Why are you happy?" he held her small face in the palm of his hands.

"Because I have met you... and now I know."

"You know what?"

She shook her head, unable to form any words of how she felt. How was she to tell him? The Dark Void did not seem so empty anymore. Now she knew that there was another place, where beauty and warmth existed. Now she knew that not all creatures were doomed to her fate. Now the very answer to her question was answered. Everything was not all darkness, and rain and loneliness.

Somewhere there was love, even if it was not meant for her. And that brought her immense joy.

She shifted. He did not belong here. In such a dark place where the light of Kami could not reach him. She steeled her resolve. "Come with me... I will find a way out for you. We will get you home, wherever it is."

"How?"

"I don't know... but I promise, I will get you home. No matter what happens I will get you home. The light of your soul... is not meant to wither away here." She stood but he pulled back.

"How about you?" he asked, and she smiled. It had been such a long time since she smiled. "Don't mind me, this is my fate, to fade away in this forgotten void." She held his hand and led him deeper into the darkness, all in strong faith that she will keep her promise.

If she prayed, prayed so hard, perhaps Elohim would hear?

* * *

They wandered in the dark, the immense hunger in her slowly crippling her away, but she did not stop praying. For so long they wandered in the Dark Void. The light that was Sesshomaru hovered close beside her, and that was the only fuel that kept her going.

She would fulfill her promise to him.

Through their long wanderings, they came across other Gluttons like her, and each and every one, she had to fight off- there was no more food, and the hunger was driving her sanity into madness. But she concentrated on his warmth and his promise. The Gluttons wanted to consume him. She had to protect him, even if it meant eating her own kind.

And so the vicious cycle kept going on, until one day, she realized, she was the only entity left aside from the celestial soul. She broke down in hopeless tears at her fate. He caught her in his arms, she was weak, and unable to even lift her eyes to him.

She had not eaten for so long.

"Why don't you consume me?" He whispered in her ear so tenderly, "I will be willing to give myself to you."

"No... I promised to get you home,"

"What good is home when you are not beside me," with tears yet again streaking down her eyes he kissed her for the first time, and somehow the immense, hysteria-driving hunger was still there, but the warmth, it was so comforting. The call to Elohim in her head grew louder and more desperate. Such a beautiful soul he was... and she broke down and cried even more.

She was dying. She was dying and she would leave this beautiful soul alone in the darkness. But she did not allow her faith to waver. Surely, her voice would reach Kami. If she called hard enough he would hear. She knew he would.

"I want you to live," he said, holding her in his arms even tighter, showering her face with gentle kisses. "I want you to come home with me... we will live through this. It does not matter what you are or what we will be. I will love you through all eternity, that is my own promise. So live..." With a deeper kiss he coaxed her weary soul back to life, binding his own soul to her, sharing his strength with hers. The Glutton, unable to resist the bind because of her weakness, only clung to him, now her soul mate, and her eyes were closing, and he prodded her to rest.

"Close your eyes and rest, if you open them and you do not find me, know that we are bound beyond the end of time. Nothing can break the bond between us. Kagome, rest."

She closed her eyes, trusting him, trusting his word. Her last thoughts were Kami's prayer, she had not stopped praying since she met him.

She had slept, and it was a very long slumber. And when she opened her eyes, Sesshomaru was not there. Instead, a different light stood before her, one so bright she had to look away. Her strength came back full force, and she prostrated herself before the light.

She realized it was Him, the one Kami.

He had heard her prayers.

* * *

"I heard your call, through the thick layers of the non-dimension. Your trust in me...

it shattered all physical and spiritual barriers. Glutton, to have such faith in an entity you haven't even seen...you have pleased me greatly." The light wrapped her in a comforting embrace, and her tears dried up in his mere presence.

"I know you would hear me," she said, and Kami smiled at her, his creation. He had not meant for her race to live through the transition. But her display of unwavering faith was incomparable. It was then that he decided: He would keep her close.

"My bond... what happened to my bond?" she did not even dare lift her eyes.

"I took him out of the Void. He does not belong here."

"Thank you. Thank you so much," she started crying, but before she could express her immense relief, Kami spoke again. "He is not made with the same material as you. Your race, specifically, I made with the strongest threads of my energy, to withstand immense pressure and flow of power. And I shall never create anything like you again. You are the last of your kind, little one."

"What does that mean?" she fretted, a sinking feeling settling deep in her soul.

"Your bond, although made with my energy, was not strong enough to withstand the pressure of the extraction. His soul shattered into ninety-eight pieces, scattering into the different dimensions and times. But the core soul that holds your bond has remained intact. It holds his celestial energy all together."

"Let me find him," she begged, "Grant me the chance to find him. Such a beautiful soul, I shall return him to you, when everything is done." she whispered, "Then you could leave me to my fate."

"What is your fate?" the Kami asked.

"Whatever you will it to be." she answered. And he smiled at her again, greatly pleased. His light pulsed brighter, the glutton feeling the flame of his soul burning away all the darkness around her, until all that filled her vision was light.

"In order to find the fragment, I shall give you a gift. No timeline shall hinder you, no dimensional boundary shall limit you. Whatever living language, as long as it pulses with life, you will understand, and you shall see through any illusion. Aside from your innate abilities, you shall have a direct channel of my energy that you can will to borrow. To you I give the gift of Transcendency, you shall be above and independent of the material universe, and you will bow only to me, your good creator."

"I cannot accept such power so freely," she whispered, humbled, but Kami knelt and touched her head gently, like a father to his child.

"Such power is without consequence." He stroked her hair gently, "Because you are the one I have chosen, I give you a responsibility. In each dimension you shall build me hierarchies that reflect my power. And once you have done that, I want you to maintain it, maintain it and protect it like you would your own soul. Are you willing to burden such responsibility for all eternity, little one?"

The glutton did not even think twice. "As long as you are on my side, I shall never fear."

He washed her with his healing light, the eternal vow having been made. Her very fiber of darkness was now bound by his intense light, and her vermilion eyes washed blue as the light slowly faded, seeping into her soul. "You will be one of the special manifestations of my greatness, but any bright light shall reveal your true nature." In cue, a flame lit from his finger, and her eyes flickered the same vermilion red she originally possessed. "It shall serve as a reminder for you, to never forget where you came from, and what you had promised to me."

He held his hand, and she took it. "Now go, find your soul mate, and establish my hierarchies. I shall be with you whenever you call."

* * *

 _ **Two Thousand Years Later**_

 _ **-In a Rift Between Rune and Jotunheim-**_

She had just quelled the great rebellion of Shamayim, driving the traitorous Watcher of Light out from the Holy Grounds. She had to smile at her timing, she had just come from another dimension, managing another hierarchy when the insurgence broke, and her Pillars had done a good job in holding the archfiend off until she came back. She smiled at her choice of stewards. She couldn't have chosen any better for this hierarchy.

If only the First Seat of Prudence was occupied, it would truly put her soul to rest. She had been saving that seat for _him_ , her Sesshomaru, because she knew he was able.

And she had faith that one day, she can finally bring him back to his home.

As she watched the open rift that gaped in the realm of Erets directly to Jotunheim, she settled herself on the ground, preparing herself for the long wait.

She had just planted a Jotun's seed, one she took from her travels and hid in her pocket, to creep over the gap and seal the accidental portal to Jotunheim. It would be a course of a hundred years before the plant would even take first sprout. But she would wait.

She was willing to wait. She knew it would be a long time before she could finally fulfill her promise. And she was patient.

How kind it was of Elohim to have whispered to her one day, as she was in the dimension of Muspell,

tending to one of his hierarchies. He told her the ninety-eighth fragment, his core and final vessel, fell in one of the most dangerous rifts of Erets, and if she was not careful the rift will destabilize and rupture, and she might lose her chance of completing him.

The thought of finding his ninety-eighth core had done nothing but feed the flame of resolve in her. She had, so far, collected only two fragments as of the moment. But knowing that he was there somewhere waiting, made her soul immensely happy.

And so between her responsibilities and waiting for his lifetimes to unfold, she had to look for dangerous rifts and stabilize them, in hopes that one day, she might find his final fragment.

But there was the wait.

Ah, she did not mind the wait.

* * *

"Hello," she said as the Jotun's first sprout opened, and she smiled at the timid tendril. She could see the linings of violet in her closed buds, and she could tell her jotun would grow to be very beautiful as time would pass. The bud shied away, but her smile never wavered. "I have brought you here because you are special, there is something that I need you to do."

The bud shyly nodded.

"I need you to guard this portal. Not let any mortal near the gateway, redirect any creature that escapes from Jotunheim. If that happens, the very structure of this rift shall destabilize and implode. You shall be the foundation of this place. I need you to do this, because Rune would be devastated and they have no such ability to defend themselves against your race.

Also,

there is someone that I deeply care about, one day he might appear in this rift. So please, promise me you will guard it."

The bud nodded at her, and Kagome stood, straightening her clothing. She was very sure she felt a summon from Shamayim coming.

"I don't know when it will happen, or if it even will. The passage of time might blur our memories. So keep this in your heart," she reached out from her sleeve and handed to the bud a small tome. The young tendrils reached out and curled around the scroll, absorbing it for safekeeping.

"It is a powerful spell I created that recalls the deepest memories. Kami whispered to me, you see, he told me we might need it in one of the rifts, just in case." Once she was sure the tome was safe and tucked, she bowed her head. She was starting to feel an annoying pull to her soul.

"I need to go, those little ingrates are calling me again."

Before she left, she suddenly paused, feeling the distress of her little flower. "Ah, how rude of me." she looked back and smiled. "You can call me Kagome... entities in my intimate circle call me that. And you will be Asphodelus. It was nice meeting you." With a nod to her head she spread her impossible span of wings and took flight.

* * *

 _ **-Present Time,**_

 _ **Asphodel-**_

He woke up to an immense silence. He was back in his estate, his strength suddenly replenished, and oddly, he felt no heavy bind of the Elioud anchored to his soul. The morning was not the usual foggy up the hill. His gaze fell on the open jade box in the corner.

 _His Onna._

He sprang up to his feet, the pace of his heart thundering like a beast clawing to escape. He barged into her room and found it was empty. He searched his estate, but she was not there. Had she remembered something? Did she decide to leave?

He couldn't blame her. But still the sting of her absence gnawed at his soul. But he lived, somehow he lived, he had to find her. He had to show her he lived, and she might stay.

He needed her beside him.

Miroku had not seen her, instead he was ranting about a great fire that broke through the entire hill last night. He was speaking about it not having damaged anything aside from the temple up the hill, to where the Elioud were at.

They were gone.

The human clan disappeared, ashes the only remainder of a burned temple and its inhabitants. And Sesshomaru despaired. The more he had to find her.

And he did, when he reached the lake between Rune and Asphodel. She was there, standing on the edge with her golden ribbon laced on her hair, and her smile content.

"Koi," She started, "I have been looking for you, for such a long time I have been searching.

I fought long and hard, through the millennia, and I have finally fulfilled my promise.

Aren't you proud of me?"

He stood still, unable to understand what she was saying, and she closed her eyes and brought forth, from deep in her soul, an amber light. He recognized it as his. Golden eyes widened in confusion.

When the amber light slowly absorbed into his body, memories of ninety-eight lifetimes assaulted him fully, and he teetered, overwhelmed. And a feeling of fulfillment, of being complete, washed over him.

His eyes searched his onna, and she smiled at him, and he reached out, crushing her into an embrace.

He finally remembered everything, most especially the first time they met in the Dark Void.

"You could have left me fragmented, you could have just walked away. Why did you choose to stay? You had the power to break our bond and give up."

It took her a while to give her answer, but she took in a deep intake of breath. She held him tighter.

"For so long I have wandered in the dark, and everything was devoid of meaning.

I had resigned to my fate to wither away in loneliness...

until you came with your light and your warmth, and you changed me.

In such impossible darkness, you became my anchor and my wings. My eyes were opened to a beautiful world I thought never existed.

You made me believe,

and it was through that belief that I am what I am right now."

A portal opened from behind Sesshomaru, and gently she pulled away.

"I have already sent detailed instructions to my Pillars. The moment you set foot on the High Heavens, A celestial named Sango will be there to welcome you. With her will be other Pillars like her. They are fairly easy to get along with, once you get past their childish antics."

"Kagome," he hesitated, feeling her pull away again.

"Koi, our bond has withstood the test of time and dimension. Even if my memory fails me I will always be able to recognize you, my soul will always gravitate to you.

After all this time, have you no faith in me?"

He only shook his head in disbelief.

"Go, before the gateway closes. It is your home." She gently pushed him, but he resisted, his hold on her hands in no intentions of letting her go.

"How about you?"

"I cannot set foot in Shamayim right now... and probably not for a long time." She stepped back, his hand still holding hers. What he did not see was her blood-drenched body, and heavy chains that were bruising her, growing tighter and tighter by the minute, dragging her back to where she came from.

She silently thanked Asphodelus for doing such a good job in concealing her cursed form.

"Go," she calmly coaxed, and his hand gripped tighter. She saw through his distress.

"Will I ever see you again?"

She nodded, ever so calmly. "Yes."

"Do you promise?"

With all the confidence Kami had given her from the beginning of time, she smiled. "I promise."

Sesshomaru let go of her hand, her warmth leaving his very person, and he stepped inside the gateway, engulfed in a familiar warm light.

He trusted her promise.

He trusted her.


	23. Epilogue

_**Epilogue**_

* * *

The angel with snow-white hair and amber eyes

stood by the blooming sakura tree on the hill that overlooked the entirety of Shamayim, his gaze steady on the domain where the winged watchers of Erets dwelled. A smile escaped his lips as the breeze sifted through the blossoms, sending a shower of pink rain around him. He couldn't help it, his thoughts would always gravitate to _her._

At one point in time, had she been standing here at the very same spot, thinking of him too?

He looked up to the blue sky and had to squint: the sun was abnormally bright today, the breeze extra gentle, the cherry blossoms dancing more than usual. It was as if the world itself was jubilant and rejoicing.

A long time ago, he set foot on the very same hill and wondered what being complete would feel. Time had passed so swiftly since he took the seat of Prudence. It was not a hard task-

Shamayim was already stable, an impenetrable fortress that refused to be shaken. No great insurgencies had occurred, no dangerous rifts discovered.

Their commander, she did an impeccable job in establishing the hierarchy.

He turned around and made his way to the sakura tree and reached out to feel the old trunk with his fingers. It was filled with etchings of small lines representing his count, from the roots to the very part where the branches spread. He remembered scratching his first line, the day he set foot on Shamayim.

That was the day she promised that someday, he would see her again.

And now, staring at the large tree before him, there was no more room for more lines. Until such a point in time that he stopped counting.

She had not counted herself, he was sure. For four millennia of searching for him, she never counted the days. She was left to bear the brunt of the wait, patiently in the corner of his life until the brink of his death to collect his fragments.

And so it was that he resolved to wait.

No matter how long it would take, he would wait.

 _"There were sightings of her in the realm of Muspell, and in Gastheim, whispers of a little ferret bounding in the hands of their own watchers. I tried to establish communication with them to confirm._

 _They simply smiled and kept silent."_

The rumors that Inuyasha told them one day echoed in his head. It only stirred the great restlessness in his soul. He had always dreamed of her, every night, but now the dreams would spill into daytime, and it was a misery. He would see her image as he waited-

her familiar polychromatic eyes, the golden ribbon laced on her ebony hair, and her confident smile.

He would reach out to her, but every time he came too close she would vanish, leaving him alone yet again, yearning for her even more.

But he would wait.

He settled himself on the roots of the tree, the gentle tug of the breeze different; the smile of the sun was different, the caress of the blossoms softer. The contrast of colors... they were celebrating something. But he could not understand their language.

That gift belonged to her. What could they be so happy about?

As he was slowly lulled to sleep, the thought of her came across his mind again. He closed his eyes, dreaming of his angel with polychromatic eyes, of his soul mate since the beginning of the new world.

She promised, that was his only assurance.

And it was, in all honesty, all that he needed.

* * *

He did not now how long he slept, but he opened his eyes to the settling dusk, the golden hue of the sky exceptionally beautiful. He felt that familiar pain of intense longing. Another day has ended again: another day without her, and he closed his eyes tightly, trying to quell the deep yearning in his soul.

"Beautiful," a familiar voice said, and his eyes snapped open.

Another vision of her was hovering before him, and his heart dropped. Yet another manifestation of his longing, and she would disappear into thin air when he reached out, leaving him alone again. She was at the edge of the cliff, the impossible span of her six wings spread, supporting her small, lithe body as she hovered in the air.

He stood up anyway.

But the next thing she did was deviant from his visions-

 _She_ reached out, and she smiled. "I have been searching for you,"

He could not stop the tears from his eyes and he stood frozen at his uncertainty. Was this real, or another torturing vision?

"Sesshomaru," she held out her hand, "won't you come and greet me?"

With hesitant steps he walked forward, a steady torrent of his emotions overflowing from the windows of his soul. He reached out for her offered hand and she did not disappear- he _touched_ her, his soulmate, and all restraint crumbled.

He pulled her into a crushing embrace, his soul rejoicing at the feel of her physical body on his, and her wings dissolved into shimmers of light as she clung to him, equally yearning for his contact.

"You're back," he whispered as he pulled away, showering kisses on her face. The wind, the cherry blossoms, the sky, no wonder they exalted. The commander was back. This was no vision anymore, and he felt overwhelmed. For so long he waited, and finally she was here.

"I should be...I am bound to the hierarchies through all time," she smiled. "I told you I was one of a kind."

"Oka-san!" Shippo's familiar voice exclaimed, and he ran to Kagome and engulfed her with a warm hug. Her small form was tackled by the other pillars, and she laughed, genuinely happy. When Kagome pulled away her eyes drifted to Sesshomaru, he was standing quietly by the cliff, silently taking in all that was happening, thanking Kami for his immense generosity and beneficence.

Kagome left the warmth of her pillars and threaded her way towards him.

"Kami has allowed us to be together now," she whispered as she closed the gap between them, and she fell silent as he bent down and sealed her lips on his, his arms snaking around her waist to pull her close, the deep kiss coaxing their longing strands of life back to a blazing fire of fulfillment. He was re-establishing the bond that was fraying through the passage of such a long time, re-intertwining their souls together until he could not differentiate where his started and hers ended.

With Kami's grace, they had stood the test of time, and nothing could break their bond.

And he smiled as he held her closer.

Finally, he can fulfill his own promise: to love her for all eternity,

And eternity begins now.


End file.
